Alcubierre
by Whoa Heavy
Summary: In 2054, NASA experiments with a negative mass warp drive, or alcubierre drive, are successful. The history of humanity, the council and ultimately all sapient species in the galaxy are inextricably changed. Full Cosmic horrror.
1. Chapter 1

__**Alcubierre  
Chapter one: A timeline of events**__

 _ **In 2054, NASA experiments with a negative warp drive, or alcubierre drive, are successful. The history of humanity, the council and ultimately all sapient species in the galaxy are inextricably changed.**_

 _ **Note: this takes place in a future where Space-X ventures in space exploration are successful and that the EM Drive actually works.**_

 _ **I do not own SpaceX, Virgin Galactic or any real world company mentioned in this fi**_ c.

 ** _2054:_**

A joint NASA and Space X experiment on the theoretical idea of warping space using negative mass. Negative mass was successfully created in the Texan LHC two years previously. The experiment is a complete success, creating a stable warp field and accelerating an object far beyond the force applied to it. Plans are drawn up for the world's first FTL drive.

The Io colony has created it's first own ship, the Io-MS Homegrown. Utilising the EM-Drive perfected 20 years earlier, the ship is a 100m transport ship designed to bring material from one side of the main asteroid belt to the other.

The Space armament pact is discussed in the UN, but remains in effect. Nuclear weapons are still banned in space, meaning every nuclear weapon ever developed is still only on Earth, despite colonies on the moon, Mars, the main belt and Io.

 _ **2055:**_

Work begins on the world's first Alcubierre drive. Plans are drawn up for a extrasolar exploratory vessel to Alpha Centuari-B carrying 12 people.  
Estimations for the speed of the FTL Drive place it at 50 times the speed of light, so a journey to Alpha Centuari, exploring for 50 days and returning would take roughly 110 days.

The u-55 Nanoforge is patented by Dr Emmerich. An upgrade of the industrial scale 3d printers common on earth and the solar colonies, they utilise nanite sized materials to form any item from a schematic stored on it's hard drive. The raw materials are feed into a nanite dissembler, and forged into the requested item. The biggest worry is that the nanoforge is advanced enough to forge other, small nanoforges.  
Fear of economic collapse following the selling of Nanoforges to the public causes many corporations to subtly attempt to prevent the selling of nanoforges through lobbying, corporate espionage and outright violence. Smarter corporations enforce incredibly strict DRM methods of schematics for their products and sell them for a premium.

India/Pakistan war begins and ends within one month. Nuclear missiles deployed in both countries and aimed at cities in both countries. Fierce ground and air fighting occurs. One nuclear weapon is utilised in Kashmir. Global and solar condemnation of the act forces the two sides to agree to a truce. Rumours of both China, Russia and America threatening nuclear hell-fire on both countries should another weapon be used will never be confirmed.

 _ **2056:**_

Lake Mead dries up entirely. Thanks to similar droughts in California and the Colorado basin, Vegas begins to die a final death.

The first successful FTL trip in human history occurs aboard the NASA ship USS Enterprise-13 warps from Earth to Mars in one minute. This meant a FTL speed of 12.5 times the speed of light. Optimisations are due to take place before the Alpha Centuari trip.

Designs are sketched up for a space-borne LHC designed to mass produce negative mass.

 _ **2057:**_

The Intrepid is built and completed in orbit. The first purpose built FTL ship ever built by humans. Captained by Lin Guiying, USA, with 30 men and women from across the globe, the ship launches on the 4th October towards Alpha Centauri-B. The ship's max FTL speed is 40 times the speed of light. After it leaves the solar system no communication methods can keep up with it.

The main Belt Federation is formed. Unifying the numerous mining ships, colonies and human settlements in the Main Asteroid belt under a single government entity.

First Rail gun equipped space ship built, "The Gauss mk-1" is essentially a command desk, an EM drive and a some few quarters built around three rail guns. The ship is poor at close range and space combat is incredibly rare at this point. Only twelve are built, and only 6 see action, mostly in rapid response to possible meteorite or asteroid collisions.

 _ **2058:**_

The Intrepid returns from Alpha Centuari-B to the celebration of most of humanity on March 15th 2058. Lin Guiying and the Ships cartographer equipment confirmed the existence of 6 planets in orbit of the binary star systems, including two within the habitual zone, one of which having a Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere and believed to support life. The news begins a fierce debate in the UN over whether or not to begin colonisations plans for an extrasolar colony. Without FTL communication methods, the colony would be utterly cut off from Earth and it's society. No decision is made.

The Main belt Federation formally joins the UN. The third Solar government to do so.

The extra-Earth union is also created, creating a assembly for nations within the Solar system not on Earth to debate and discuss politics, though they are unable to pass legislation recognised by their home countries or the UN.

The next trip for the Intrepid is planned, travelling to Proxima Centuari and doing a full survey of the System. Captain Lin Guiying is once again selected as Captain, but the crew is shuffled to represent other countries. This is controversial decision.

Another FTL ship begins construction, the Golden hind. Slightly larger but slower then the Intrepid, she is built privately by a joint Virgin Galactic and Space-X venture in Mars Orbit.

 _ **2059**_

Construction begins on the Negative Mass Foundry, a Large Hadron Collider in Earth Orbit designed to generate Negative mass. Requires absolute tonnes of Energy.

Thirty years after the mass adoption of Hot fusion plants across Earth, a successful test of Cold fusion in the Laboratoire Plasma et Conversion d'Energie in France suggests the Energy future of Earth. Hydrogen-3 prices sky-rocket for two week before settling to normal levels. A Nerve gas attack on New York subway kills 300 people. Extreme non-Earth nationalist group "Free of the Cradle" claim responsibility.  
Public begins to demand tighter controls on non Earth colonies by Earth Governments. Chinese Marines are deployed in the Martian colony of New Nanjing.

 _ **2060**_

The Intrepid sets off towards Proxima Centuari. It discovers four planets in orbit of the star, one of which in the habitual belt is confirmed to have simple multicellular life and a Oxygen/Nitrogen atmosphere. The first living Extraterrestrial life ever found. The planet is quarantined to preserve the life on it. The entire trips takes roughly 130 days. The planet is deemed unsuitable for comfortable human habitation due to the suns flares greatly increasing it's luminosity and potentially cooking unprotected life. A science station in orbit is discussed as a possibility.

"Free of the Cradle" members are arrested planning to blow up a asteroid transport ship en route to earth, potentially causing a giant Asteroid to collide with Earth. They are summarily executed by the Chinese Government.

Io is recognised by the UN as a independent nation and gains a seat. Now Mars,Lunar, the MBF and Io are members of the UN.

 _ **2061**_

The Negative Mass Foundry is complete. Negative mass becomes the most expensive commodity in the solar system available for sale due to it's extreme rarity.

China begins development of their own FTL Ships. One, "Zheng He", is a small FTL probe designed to scout out nearby star systems for habitable planets and resources. The second, which will not be completed until 2068, is named "Sanbao Taijian" and is the first FTL colony ship ever designed. With the typical Centrifugal arms for artificial gravity, multiple decks filled with exercise equipment, Hydroponic plants, several Industrial Nanoforges and mining drones, it is clear it is supposed to be fully independent, a interesting development for the Chinese government, who prefer to make colonies rely on China and each other for supplies.

Mining the Oort cloud begins in earnest. Mining ships this far from Earth are unable to effectively communicate with earth, as the Oort cloud is 42 light weeks from Earth. Miners are free to stake claims on large asteroids for mining. People who have found the Main belt "Too Gentrified" are attracted to the furthest reaches of the Solar system.

 _ **2062**_

Captain John Hargreave, UK, of the Golden Hind sets off towards Epsilon Eridani with the express purpose of finding a planet capable of supporting human colonisation.

The Colt G-1777 Gauss rifle is successfully field tested on earth. Rather then the shaky reliability of the anti-Material Rail gun, the gauss rifle doesn't need it's rails changed every few shots and requires less energy. It remains an anti-Material gun attached to vehicles, but some companies express interest in a man portable version.

The Intrepid is brought offline for six months to replace the Negative mass in it's driver and rings.

World's first Cold fusion plant begins construction in France, to combat the growing demand for energy in the country.

 _ **2063**_

After 110 days of FTL travel and 40 days in system, Epsilon Eridani A is discovered. One of 4 planets in the system, it is a young earth, with simple plant life and small organic life, mostly amphibians and reptiles.  
It won't be until next year, when the Golden Hind returns, that Earth will discover this.

The UK agrees to foot half the cost of the construction of the "Sanbao Taijian" should it be allowed to place half of the colonists and select the second in command and half of the staff for the mission. China accepts. The name remains the same.

First FTL drive to be mass produced goes on sale. It requires both the drive core and the negative mass rings, which are sold as too separate items. Negative mass remains the most expensive commodity in human history.

Another Negative Mass Foundry is built in record time in Mars Orbit. Plans are made to create 7 more by six different companies.

 _ **2064**_

The return of the Golden Hind and it's findings sparks debate. To great controversy, human colonisation is approved. The Chinese and UK Government announce the Sanbao Taijian project formally, stating they will colonise Epsilon Eridani A. Recruitment begins for the 1000 initial colonists. Plans to begin exporting more and more colonists later are drawn up, but the Sanbao Taijian will remain in the Alpha Centuari system for a period of six years.

The Zheng he is completed, and sent out on a long survey of Barnard's star, Alpha Centuari, Procyon, Epsilon Eridani, Tau Ceti and 61 cygni.

 _ **2065**_

Peacekeeping forces are deployed to Nicaragua following the outbreak of Civil war in the country.

3 more Negative mass foundry's are completed. Negative Mass price finally begins to drop.

Netherlands flood defence begin to fail in the face of rising sea levels. 1/3 of the country is claimed by the sea.

The intrepid begins a mission to Alpha Centauri again for a more thorough survey of the system.

 _ **2066**_

The Golden Hind sets off for an expedition to Tau Ceti, the system most believed to support extra-terrestrial life.

The last 4 Negative Mass foundry's are completed. Negative mass become cheap enough that smaller mining companies (Those that aren't Space X, Virgin Galactic and government entities.) can begin to afford to build and buy FTL capable ships. Most are small communication probes to facilitate the sending of messages from the other side of the Main Belt. Speeds above 1c (the speed of light) aren't common.

 _ **2067**_

Because no government has formally declared rights over any extrasolar planet yet, the treaty of Epsilon Eridani is drawn up by the UN. No unlike Sol, where Governments can claim large sections of a planetary surface as sovereign territory, it formally denies the right of Sol governments to claim territory outside the Oort cloud (The boundary is set at 130 Astronomical units for clarity, since without Ftl communications and due to the lack of material beyond that point, it is not worth anything.). The Chinese and British government grumbles, but the Sanbao Taijian mission continues as planned.

The colony the ship will set up will be independent of both the British and Chinese Government. The name "New Hong Kong" is chosen.

The US announces a similar colonisation effort on the southern hemisphere of Epsilon Eridani A. They begin construction of the "USS Oregon Trail."

The Golden Hind returns, announcing the existence of another planet capable of supporting human life in the second planet of the Tau Ceti system. As no government wants to declare another colonisation effort, nothing is done.

Captain Hargreave retires from the Golden hind.

Commodore Ma Lan is selected as captain of the Sanbao Taijian, whilst Captain Hargreave is selected as his XO.

 _ **2068**_

The Sanbao Taijian is launched from Earth orbit. With a max speed of 20c, the ship wont arrive in system for 210 days at the earliest. Over 1200 people from both China and the UK are selected to be the initial colonists.

The Intrepid suffers a fault with it's drive core. Given the increasing efficiency of ship designs and lack of need for small manned FTL ships, the ship is retired and placed at the Aerospace museum of California.

 _ **2069**_

The British government buys an FtL probe capable of 50c to allow occasional communication between Earth and New Hong Kong. Initial reports from the colony suggest its going well, with the people building settlements off the ship with the use of nano forges. Biologists report back their findings on the native lifeforms. Hydroponic plants have been set up. The colonial leader, Ma Lan, estimates that the colony will be able to survive without the facility's on board the Sanbao Taijian in two years. The Sanbao Taijian remains in Orbit of the planets, having lifted off 6 months after initial planetfall, and is used to collect rare earth metals and non contaminated water from the system in the form of small comets.

 _ **2070**_

The Asteroids of M91283-F and M83 declare war on each other. Both are large asteroids hollowed out for permanent habitation. Officially the reason is that M91283-F had assassinated the senator of M83 before he could vote on the militarisation of the MBF, of which he was in favour of. First recorded incident of starship to starship combat. Thanks to one ship, m83's "Outro", being equipped with a Alcubierre drive, it was able to warp too close for the other ship to aim it's rail gun. It's point defence guns tore through the other ship.

M91283-F formally surrenders. Space military doctrine is seriously looked at, as the combat applications of the warp drive haven't been fully considered.

The MBF votes against forming a formal military.

 _ **2071**_

Captain Hargreave returns the Sanbao to earth orbit, commodore Ma Lan deciding to remain on Epsilon Eridani A as mayor of New Hong Kong. 2000 colonists are shipped back to New Hong Kong. Captain Hargreave will continue to captain the Sanbao Taijian until his retirement in 2079.

Current population of humans outside the Sol System: 3354  
Current population of Earth: 11.2 billion  
Current total human population: 11.9 billion

Human Telomere regeneration project begins. Attempting to finally discover the true cause of ageing and whether or not medical nanites can delay or prevent certain affects of ageing.

 _ **2072**_

Catalina formally separates from Spain.

The USS Oregon Trail is completed. It carries 1000 Americans to Epsilon Eridani. Captained by Alan Shepard. The settlement of Oregon is built on the planet's southern continent.

First widespread genetic modification is available for those that spend most of their time in a zero gravity environment. Keshi-Rasch biomedical releases a gene-mod that promotes strong muscle and skeletal strength and growth even in microgravity. Constant exercise is still suggested for any space traveller in order to prevent Muscle entropy.

 _ **2073**_

The Zheng He probe returns. Confirmed colonizable planets in Procyon and 61 cygni. It has also marked the location of several mineral rich asteroids.

Aldrin city on Mars applies to be a country selected for the world cup. Predictions suggest they'll lose horribly due to training in a lower gravity environment. Still accepted.

The Sanbao and Oregon continue to make trips to and from Earth and Epsilon Eridani A.

 _ **2074**_

Twenty years after the initial confirmation of the possibility of a FTL drive, over 7000 people live and die outside the Sol system.

The Telomere Regeneration project announces successful attempt of delaying the degradation of telomeres in the DNA of rats.

Aldrin city are knocked out of the World cup in the earliest rounds of the knockout stage.

Outbreak of Avian flu in Rome forces the city in lockdown and quarantine for two months.

 _ **Beyond:**_

Within the next fifty years, humanity will slow the ageing process by a factor of ten, FTL drives will continue to accelerate, humanity will spread out from Earth. By 2109, fifty percent of humanity live outside of Earth, with twenty percent living on the planet of Freedom's Reach, formally Epsilon Eridani A.

It is here, in 2124, we begin the story of one man, and those that he changes and meet around him.

Captain Arthur Hargreave of the Trailblazer© Ship Pequod.

* * *

 _ **2124**_

Even 200 light years from where humanity once looked at the stars thinking they were the spirits of the dead, there are bars.

Sure, this one was in a space station in the Lagrange point of Kepler 138b. Sure, it used centrifugal force to prevent your drink from floating around in the air, and the bar tender has a limb made of carbon nanotubes.

But a bar is a bar. No matter how far from Earth you get.

Arthur ran a hand through his blonde hair.

"So. Suppose you guys are setting off soon?" asked the bartender.

Arthur nodded.  
"Got rumours of a garden world a few parsecs from here. Bosses back home want proof."

"Ain't worried about the pirates round here?" Asked the bartender.

Arthur shrugged.  
"My ship is pretty well armed. And pirates go for trading ships and miners, not exploration vessels."

"Well, good luck to you. Don't suppose you are the pilot?"

"I can command a ship after one drink." Said Arthur bluntly.

"Aye." Said the bartender. He returned to cleaning a glass. A pointless gesture, since there was a auto scrubber just below the bar top.

Arthur rolled his shoulder and stood up from the bar. Hopefully his ship was fully stocked on food, negative mass and Helium-3 for the next three months. It'd be a long time before he'd return to human civilisation again.

He walked out the bar and walked against the walls of the space station, climbing up the curved floor.

He looked down through a door on the floor. Through it, and the windows beside the door, he saw his ship.

TBs Pequod. At 130m long, she was classed as a light cruiser. Armed with four directional gauss cannons and sixteen 50cal Gatling guns for point defence. With two centrifugal arms with a few rooms within each, a large EM drive for sublight propulsion and several directional em engines, she was a typical ship, one you could find anywhere in the civilised world.

Kneeling down, Arthur slid a card key against the sensor. The door opened, and Arthur climbed down the steps. After a few rungs, the sense of gravity disappeared, and Arthur flipped around, now standing up. As he walked forward, the gravity returned, pulling him towards the rung of the ladders. He walked towards the door of the ship, which opened automatically.

He walked into the deck. The floors of starships were angled like buildings, rather than the typical naval ships of old. In the middle was a long ladder which ran the entirety of the ship. Occasionally, the ship would travel at an acceleration of 9.81 m/s2, and normal earth gravity would be felt throughout the ship. However, typically, in either FTL or sublight travel the ship was a lot slower, and only the two centrifugal arms had constant gravity.

"Captain." Said Arthur's Xo, Joshua Grahm. "Pequod is fully stocked. We've got ammo, food, water and raw materials."

"Good work. We have our heading. Everyone aboard?" Asked Arthur.

"Aye sir. We await your word." Said Grahm.

Arthur nodded and walked towards the ladder, and began climbing towards the command deck, the third and forth deck from the front.

"All right men. Disembark, travel for 90km then FTL to (234,091). Maximum speed." Ordered Arthur.

The ship shuddered slightly as the magnetic clamps let go of the Ship. Arthur's own mag boots activated, keeping him to the floor even as the gravity disappeared.

"Off we go." Said Arthur, mostly to himself.

* * *

 _ **Codex:**_

 ** _Navigational Stellar Coordinates:_**

Created in 2084 after humanity began to expand to star systems without unique, easy to remember names, coordinates start with Earth as (000,000). Each unit is one light year from Earth. Positive numbers are galactic North and East respectively, whilst negative numbers are south and West.

 _ **Trailblazer**_ _ **©:  
**_ A company which specialises in discovery star systems beyond the official borders of civilised space (Roughly 210 light years from earth to the North, 74 to the east and 80 light years to the south and west) and providing private security for colonies and star stations. They own six ships, 3 light cruisers and 3 frigates.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Alcubierre_**

 ** _Chapter 2: Close encounters._**

Hargreave fastened the straps on his bed. As Captain, he could have had his quarters in one of the Centrifugal arms and slept in a room with some semblance of gravity in it, but that was far more important for research labs and gym equipment.

Oddly enough, Gym equipment was some of the most useful stuff on a long spaceflight. There's very little in the way of entertainment, room to move about in, and more importantly, constant gravity, on a star ship.

Keeping physically fit was the utmost importance to all crew. Hours in the gym were strictly timetabled for everyone, and mandatory.

It was worse in back in the navy or god forbid the special forces. He remembered serving on the Carthage 5 years ago. A Cruiser class vessel measuring at 300m, she had four centrifugal arms that actually simulated 2G's of gravity just to make exercise that little bit more difficult.

He stared at his holopalm. A fairly recent invention, five holographic projectors and laser sensors, one on each finger tip, with wifi access to a remote hardrive. It was essentially a small computer, like the smart hands of the late 21st century, without needing to remove parts of your body. Buyers remorse if he'd ever heard of it.

He swiped through his stored movies. Nothing really interested him. He hadn't been in Sol for 3 years now, and any of the inner systems for about a year, and his movie collection was woefully out of date.

Hargreave rolled his eyes and returned to doing what he usually did when he was bored. He open up a Porn vid. He might as well, another three months with people he was the boss of and really shouldn't "Liason" with meant three months of watching however many terabytes of full 3d porn he managed to download last time he was in a developed colony.

Data was expensive out in the outer systems. With no means of FTL communication bar data packets brought with ships, there was no internet, there was no app store on online multiplayer. On certain space stations or colonies, selling youtube vids or porn was a decent way to make some money on the side if you regularly made trips to the inner systems.

"Captain."

Hargreave gritted his teeth. It was the unmistakable southern twang of his XO. Grahm was trying to call him from outside his room.

"You better have a good reason for waking me up." Hargreave replied, muting the porn.

"Boss, I know what you're doing in there." Said Grahm.

"Well, then you should know to get me in... About ten minutes." Hargreave responded.

"Boss, the Negative mass drive has shunted the fourth ring improperly and we are losing FTL efficiency. Engineering says that we need to come to a complete stand still if we want maximum speed." Grahm explained.

"How fast are we going right now?" Asked Hargreave.

"8 LY a day. But that speed will keep decreasing until we repair the Ring." Grahm Replied.

Hargreave thought through the maths. It'd take 23 hours for the rings to stop being radioactive enough for maintenance, and it'd likely be another day until they were repaired.  
They'd been travelling for 2 days at this point from Kepler 138b and before he signed off from his shift they had travelled 23 light years from Kepler 138b.

"What's the chances they can't repair it? I'd rather limp back to civilisation then be stranded in interstellar space." Asked Hargreave, undoing the straps on his bed. He didn't bother to change what he was wearing, but it wasn't unusual for him to be wearing his Pajamas on Deck mid FTL. He wore the Mag Boot though.

"Perfectly routine, we've got materials onboard. They'd estimate it'd be a two week trip back without repairs." Grahm replied.

Crouching against the wall, Arthur gently pushed off, floating towards the door to his room. The door automatically opened, and as it did so held his legs "Down" and activated the mag boot, securing him to the floor.

"All right. Where are we right now?" Asked Hargreave.

"(216, 090)" Grahm replied. "About 2 light years from the nearest Star system."

"Kepler 192?" Asked Hargreave, mostly to himself. A binary red dwarf system. No rocky planets, one brown dwarf.

"Aye."

"All right. Drop us out of warp. Make sure we keep at least two rings fully operational if need be, I don't want to be stranded here." Hargreave ordered.

Arthur stretched. He wasn't really tired anyway. No point sleeping if we aren't even moving.

He walked through the hallway towards the central ladder. Deactivating his Mag boots, he made his way down the ladder.

He barely noticed as the Ship's warp field deactivated, and kept climbing down from deck 7 to deck 43.

Deck 33 was halfway down the Pequod, and was the deck from which one could climb into the centrifugal arms.  
It was 23:13 ship time, and only one third of the crew were working right now. Meaning that they'd probably be a few people in the rec room in arm-2.

Arthur looked around. Deck 33 had no rooms on it, it was a large circular room. It in was a two chairs on rails, and the quickly spinning doors leading to the climb "down" towards the Centrifual arms.

Arthur sat down in the chair, and pressed the button for arm 2. The chair began to circle around the room until it's speed matched that of arm 2. The chair moved forward until reach the access hatch, which opened. The chair continued to move forward and the restraints detached, Allowing Arthur to begin the climb down the arm.

As he climbed down, he noticed the effect of Gravity, and breathed deeply. It was a weird feeling to move from a microgravity environment to a earth standard. Arthur himself had been born on Epsilon Eridani b, which had a planetary gravity of 1.23g, but none the less the feeling took a few seconds to get used to. After seven seconds, Arthur began to climb down the ladder.

After fifteen metres, he reached the bottom of the ladder and placed his feet on solid ground. Space travel had an awful lot of ladders in it.

He looked around. The Centrifugal arms ended in an area about the size of a decent house. Arm 1 was just filled with Gym equipment and a lab, but Arm 2 had a spare quarters for dignitaries, a mess hall, and a rec room.

Arthur dumped his Mag boots by the hatch and climbed down another ladder to the rec room.

On one end was a ping pong table, which resident champ Tanya Collins was facing off against Maita Ashihei. Next to it, a empty pool table. Two guys had managed to buy a gaming computer back in Civ space and were split screening some FPS Arthur didn't recognise.

Instead of these, Arthur turned around and joined the in progress Poker game.

"Captain. Want to be dealt in?" Asked Paúl Arnal, head of the Peqoud's botany department.

"Thanks. Usual stakes?" Asked Hargreave.

When spending months at a time away from civilised space and other humans, money, whether the Sol Credits used in the inner systems or the billion other digital currencies out in the boonies, meant little on board. Instead, personal objects that couldn't be nanoforged were "appraised" and a select number of chips were given.

Hargreave handed Paúl his modified M1911A5. The pistol he slept with.  
With a Marksmen trigger, no trigger guard, laser rangefinder and Picatinny rails, she was Arthur's second favourite gun after his genuine single action army, which was in a safe deposit box back in New Hong Kong.

"900 chips." Said Paúl.

Hargreave rolled his eyes. The items were just collateral if you cheated. Most everyone just played for fun and got their items back in the end. Unless someone started trading shifts, in which case things got serious.  
Still, Paúl was short shafting him.

Hargreave leant back in chair, looking at his opponents from left to his right.

Frank, Engineer. Tell was blinking twice in rapid succession.

Melisandre. Engineer. Her tell was shuffling in her seat slightly, but not consistent enough to rely on.

Robert. Plumber. No obvious tell. Experienced poker player. Apparently won the deed for at 160km2 patch of land on Pilgram's Rest, a garden world 80 light years from earth.

Finally, Mary. Navigation. Raised pinkie on good hands, tight grip on bad ones.

"The blind is thirty." Said Paúl. Arthur chucked in the blind, as did the others.

The cards were dealt, and Arthur looked at his pair.

Queen of Diamonds and 7 of diamonds. Nothing yet. Arthur glanced around the table quickly. Frank was blinking normally, Mary had a tight grip on her cards, Robert was calm... but Melisandre. She had shuffled just once in her seat. Something to bear in mind.

"50." said Frank.

"Call." said Melisandre. Everyone called.

The first of three cards were shown. 7 of clubs.

No one moved erratically. No need to get hopes up yet. Arthur knew Melisandre had something, but it seemed this hadn't improved her odds.

"50." Said Melisandre. Everyone called again.

The next card was dealt.

Jack of Diamonds.

Melisandre shuffled in her seat again, and Mary's hands seemed to relax.

It was my turn. I couldn't fuck them over, I had a middling hand, Melis and Mary seemed to have good ones.  
I could bluff,

 _but Unless I did something crazy Melis and Mary would definitely call. Best just play it safe for now and hope for the next hand._

"50." Arthur said. Robert folded, but everyone else called. Except Melisandre.

"75" She said.

Damn. Not enough to back out.

"I call." Arthur said. Everyone still playing followed suite.

Finally, the last card was drawn.

7 of Hearts.

 _Son of a bitch. All right. Match Mary, back out if Melisandre goes overboard._

He noticed Melisandre didn't shuffle, and Mary's grip tighten slightly.  
 _  
_"50" Frank said. Damn. He was going to get fucked over.

"75" said Mary. Frank grumbled but handed over the extra twenty five.

"100" Said Melis. Frank swore and threw his cards down.

3 of clubs and an ace of Diamonds. Absolutely nothing.

 _Call it._

"Calling." Said Arthur.

"Calling." Said Mary.

"All right, show your cards.

Mary went first. Jack and 7 pair. She was bluffing like crazy then.

Smugly, Melis went next. 7 pair and Ace pair. Fucking hell, she was acting like she had something there.

Arthur placed his cards down. 3 of a kind.

"You guys better learn how to play Poker. Captain's orders." Said Arthur smugly, collecting his winnings.

Arthur leant back in his chair. God damn, it was good to be king.

* * *

Rest assured, the rest of the night did not go like that. Robert cleaned house with a lucky bluff, and so got the opportunity to sleep in the one bedroom on the ship with gravity. Hargreave elected to just sleep on the sofa in the Rec room rather than return to his room.

At 07:00 hours ship time, his alarm went off.

He rubbed his face as he bleary opened his eyes. His stubble was coming in again annoyingly.

Rolling off the sofa and onto his feet, Hargreave stretched his arms and legs. Wash, dress, One hour of gym followed by an entire shift of nothing but waiting for decontamination of the warp drive. Lovely.

* * *

It took 36 hours of being stuck in space for the Drive core to finally be put back online. Hargreave wanted to waste no more time and ordered Max speed to (234, 091).

The Pequod had a max FTL speed of 16 LY a day, though usually the cruising speed was kept to 12 in order to limit stress on the drive core. There were faster ships in the galaxy, but you were looking at frigate weight or lower for that kind of speed.

Their first stop came only 33 hours later. In the system of Wolf-0812032.

The Pequod dropped out of FTL with minimal fuss, start popping around the system, jumping at warp to get close to believed planetary sights, dropping scanning drones to continue surveying.

In total, there were 7 planets in orbit, 1,2 and 3 were too close to the star for liquid water. 5,6 and Seven were too far, with 5 and seven being gas giants.

But 4 was an interesting one. Rocky planet well within the "Goldilocks Radius", meaning was in the orbital sweet spot for liquid water.

And so, the Peqoud was maintaining a Geosynchronous orbit above one of the Planet's Northern continent.

"Atmosphere is toxic to us. 74% Nitrogen, 12.5% Oxygen, 4% carbon dioxide, 2% misc." Said the head atmospheric scientist on board, Dr Urnst Kalen. "Surface temperature is 24 degree Celsius, water vapor content is 0.5 Earth average."

"Poles may be inhabitable with genemodded lungs, but anywhere south of that is too hot and dry to be comfortable. Still, Plenty of space." Said Urnst.

"Any signs of life?" Asked Hargreave.

"small shrubs are visible from the footage we got from the drone, perhaps some small reptile equivalents." Said Urnst. "Essentially we are looking at the equivalent of our Cambarian period."

"Human habitable?" Asked Hargreave.

"Sir, with all due..."

Hargreave sighed. He knew the scientists didn't like it. The main goal of Trailblazer was to find to world's to colonise. Terraforming a planet would take several centuries, so most of the time it was the job of people like Hargreave to find garden worlds already teaming with life, AOK it for human habitation and dump human's, their crops and lifestock on worlds that couldn't take it. After over 50 years of extrasolar colonisation, and a unending population boom that the Telomere project caused, humans couldn't let a few microbes, reptiles or mammals get in the way.

"... Yes. Again, close to the poles, would be best." Said Urnst.

"All right. I'll get the bio boys to land, gather some samples and tick that off the list. Alejandro!" Shouted Hargreave, turning away from Urnt's station in the command deck and turning towards his head of security. An ex merc from the Main belt wars, Alejandro was a calm, quiet weirdo who Hargreave was pretty sure stroked and had sexual relationships with his guns.

To be fair, he slept with a pistol, so pot calling the kettle black.

"Yes sir?" asked the Merc.

"Gather your team, One heavy gauss, rest low calibre. Shouldn't see much large hostile wildlife down there." Said Hargeave.

"Aye." Said Alejandro, walking away to gather his crew of 7 men and women.

"Sir." said Vaatia. Hargreave turned to her.

"We've found another planetoid object at the edge of the System." Said Vaatia. "About 30 AU out, no larger than 20km."

"All right, so there are 8 planets in system. So what?" Asked Hargreave.

"The fact is we've just noticed it. About 5 minutes ago, one of our drones jumping back reported it emitting massive amounts of chekenov radiation no lest then 2 hours ago." Said Vaatia.

"Chekenov? As in "Light passes through volume faster then typical speed of light through volume?" radiation?" Asked Hargreave.

"Yeah, in the Vacumm space. An object accelerating light in non-warped space faster than light." Said Vaatia.

Hargreave though on this for a few seconds.

"Give us twenty minutes to land the bioboy's, then we'll warp out there and check it out." Hargreave replied.

* * *

After the shuttles had landed, Hargreave ordered the ship to warp out to another 29.2 AU, to where this strange planetoid was located.

Hargreave looked out the Observation deck, starring at the object roughly 140km away, his mag boots keeping him stuck to the ground.  
A strange metallic object, like a tuning fork with a gyroscope towards the back. The gyroscope was spinning and emmiting a dull blue light.

"What the hell are we looking at?" Asked Hargreave, mostly to himself.

He heard the door open behind him.

"So... Alien artefacts in space huh? You getting some cosmic horror vibes here?" Said Hargreave.

Hargeave vaguely heard the unsheathing of a blade, and span and ducked just in time to keep his head as a Machete flew over his head.

He looked up to see Alejandro, fully armoured bar his helmet, and looking pissed.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Shouted Hargreave, he slipped into a cqc stance, his legs no further then shoulder width apart, one foot in front of the other, both hands raised in front of his, his left behind his right, one closed fist one opened.

"Didn't want to crack the glass and kill the both of us." Instead of answering him, he stated moving forward, both hands on his machete, ready to slash as need be.

Alejandro moved first, rushing towards him and slashing the machete horizontally.

Dodging the swing, Hargreave stepped forward and slammed his palm straight into Alejandro's nose, then punched him in the throat.

As Alejandro fell back, he kicked him in the chest and used both of his hands to grab the machete from Alejandro.

Alejandro fell to the floor, Hargreave held the machete to his neck.

"What the fuck are you doing you fucking edgelord psychopath." growled Hargreave, pressing the machete into Alejandro's neck.

Alejandro's eyes began to glaze over.

"We must open the gate... We must open the gate." He began to mutter.

"Answer me!" Shouted Hargreave.

"We must open the gate, and become exalted." Said Alejandro.

Hargreave glanced out of the window and noticed that the Pequod was approaching the alien structure. He heard screams from further up the ship.  
Hargreave once more turned to Alejandro, only to spot that his mouth was foaming and his eyes wide in terror and pain. Cyanide poisoning.

Keeping a hold of the Machete in one hand, Hargreave left the observation deck and made his way up to the command deck.  
After 4 decks, he reached it.

Immediately a knife was plunged into his shoulder as he stepped off the ladder. Hargreave lurched forward, the blood floating in the microgravity.

He heard the whirr of a taser priming, turning around to see Mary aiming a taser at him.

"Don't move." She growled.

"The hell are you doing!" Shouted Hargreave, before grimacing at the pain in his right shoulder.

"We have our orders. If you wish to live Captain stay on the floor." Ordered Mary.

Hargreave glanced around the deck. There were four unconscious bodies on the floor. Grahm, and three navigators. Those standing and concious were all dressed in armour and manning the various control panels.

"Why the hell are we heading towards that thing." Asked Hargreave, placing one hand behind his head and another one his shoulder, knelling on the floor, a difficult feat in zero gravity.

"That "Thing" is a mass relay, and so far is the only one we've ever found outside of Arcturus." Said Vaatia.

"Arcturus? No one's ever been in Arcturus. It fucking blew up 20 years ago." Said Hargreave.

"A unfortunate accident. They were testing just how large an object the relays can transport. Turns out there is an upper limit." Said Vaatia.

"So who are you working for? INCA [1]? CIA?" Asked Hargreave.

"Tase him." Ordered Vaatia. Hargreave stood up and began to jump towards the mutineers before three prongs dug into his flesh and 10000 volts seared through his body.

Hargreave missed his target and slammed into a wall, but crawled against the floor, still clinging to conciousness. Another Ten thousand volts soon knocked him out.

* * *

When Hargreave came to, he immediately realised something had gone horribly wrong. The screens in the command deck were reporting multiple hull breaches on the lower decks, the loss of arm 2 and fires across half of the decks. The command deck itself was activating the carbon dioxide fire suppresor, and warning alarms were going off to equip oxygen masks.

Stumbling to his feet, Hargreave coughed and limped towards the ladder, and climbed up, on the next level of the Command deck, the story was mostly the same. Swiping a mask off a dead muntineer, Mary, he breathed deep.

Now he could breath properly, he looked around, and floated towards one of the control panels.

There were four heat signatures, three about 170m long almost 100km away and one...

The ship shook as the heat signature, likely a gauss round, slammed into the ship. Damage control suggested it had torn off the other centrifugal arm.

"Fucking pirates." Grumbled Hargreave. He hated being in space battles. Half of it was done by the computer, and the rest was starring at screens at timing your jumps.

Speaking of, he checked the drive core status. 100% excellent.

The Peqoud wouldn't survive long in a long range engagement, but that was what 50caliber miniguns were for. Jumping to within 40ms of one of the heat signatures.

He typed in to immediately open fire. As the miniguns span up and unleashed metallic death, he looked at the view screen. He was close enough to get visual on the ship.

It was strange. If he had to guess, the design of the ship was as if it was orientated horizontally rather then vertically. It also didn't have centrifugal arms. It looked more like an upscale short range fighter than a light cruiser.

Finally, the miniguns were doing absolutely nothing to it. Some strange blue aura was emitted each time the bullets almost collided with the ship. Hargreave's eyebrows raised. There had been poor designs for Plasma energy shields, but they usually cooked whatever they enveloped, required ungodly amounts of energy and generated so much radiation they could be seen from the other side of a soar system.

This was better than that. The ships had about an average heat signature for a ship of it's class, and yet it was tanking hits like a mother fucker.

Hargeave watched as the ships point defence guns activated, and began to launch round after round of what was likely gauss accelerated tungsten into the Peqoud.

More and more damage control lights blared as the ship made Swiss cheese of the Peqoud. But after 30 seconds it had stopped.

Hargreave ran, climbing up one more deck and as quick as he could equipping a hard space suit. It was only a matter of time before a hull breach sent him spiralling into the void. Decks 9-39 were completely devoid of oxygen, and only the drive core remained in tack, three of the four sublight EM drives destroyed.

Suddenly, one of the control screens blared up with an open data signal. In the ships damaged state, it had wrongly skipped all data protections procedures and automatically played it.

Hargreave turned to the screen to see... Something.

It was a biped, two legs, Four arms, two large with biceps and triceps with four fingers and a thumb, with two small vesitgal arms in the chest with simply one tricep and a small hand with only two fingers. The chest was barrel shaped, and it's skin was covered in very fine hairs. Luckily it wore clothes. It's face... It had a perfectly circular mouth with sharp teeth lining the side. It had four eyes, two on the side of it's head, two in front. The eyes were orange, with dual combined pupils in each. The top of it's head was bulbous, likely needing a large brain for all the extra sensory and motor skills required compared to the human form. Only had the same smattering of fine hair at the top of it's head.

It opened it's mouth, and gurgled.

It was a terrible noise, harsh and gurgling at the same time.

It spoke for roughly a minute and Hargreave had no idea what it was saying. Glancing to see that the Drive core was still online, and a location marked "Mass Relay" on the nav grid.

Hargreave leant forward and sent a open radio signal in reply.

"Fuck off." He said simply.

And with that, desperate to try and stay alive, aligned the drive core to head straight to the mass relay.

As the whirr of warped space began, Hargreave began to shake.

He, or rather, whoever was in control of the ship whilst he was unconscious, had made first contact with an alien race. An alien race with fucking energy shields and possibly artificial gravity. An Alien race which had opened fire and torn apart Hargreave's baby deck from deck. Killing likely almost everyone inside.

"Har..." Grahm grumbled.

Hargreave picked up his discarded Oxygen mask and put in on the dying body of his XO.

"Grahm... What the fuck happened?" Asked Hargreave.

"I woke up after we went though the relay. Fucking Vaatia started warping to the inner planets of this system and fucking made contact with godamn aliens. And they immediately opened fire on us." Said Grahm.

"Did they, Vaatia or whoever say why the may want to start a fucking interstellar war?" Asked Hargreave.

"No, I have no idea." replied Grahm.

"...We are barely in enough shape to limb back to Kepler 138b, and once we drop out of warp at the relay they could spring out and kill us."

"We're about to drop out. We need to jump ASAP." Said Grahm.

"Do you even know how we use that... Relay thing?" Asked Hargreave.

"I think we just move near it, the Relay does the rest." Replied Grahm.

"All right. You're on View screen, warn me if those ships are there once we drop out of warp. Pilot's dead, so I'll allign us with the relay. Ready?" Asked Hargreave.

Grahm stumbled to his feet and nodded.

Hargreave climbed the ladder up towards the pilots chair and into it. Looking around the vast array of viewscreens and keyboards necessary to pilot the ship.

"Dropping out of warp in 3, 2..." Said Grahm from below. "one!"

Immediately all view screens turned on. The others ships weren't there yet.

Blessing his luck, Hargreave put 100% of what the ship could manage into the sole remaining EM Drive. Slowly but surely the ship began to speed towards the mass relay less than 40km away.

After about a minute Suddenly, a few heat signatures appeared behind the Peqoud.

"Damn! Ships are back. They're opening fire!" Shouted Grahm.

With manoeuvring thrusters only just online, Hargreave sent the ship into a spin, but maintained full acceleration. He was now within 23km form the relay, with no idea when it will activate.

"You've got to travel alongside the relay!" Shouted Grahm. Hargreave nodded but didn't reply, far too focused on getting through it alive.

A few shots from the pursuing ships went wide, slamming into the mass relay.  
They did absolutely no damage to it.

Hargreave wiped his forehead. 10KM.

Nothing was happening.

"Where the fuck are we in?" shouted Hargreave.

"Nav computer estimates about 700 LY from Human space." Grahm replied.  
Hargreave swore under his breath. The relay was the only chance they had of getting back to human space, and they had no idea how to use it.

At 7km, with the ships still bearing down on them, a bolt of what appeared to be lightning struck the ship. It did no damage however.

The relay began to light up, and Hargreave fell forward as gravity began to take hold of the ship. Pulling everything to the front of the craft.

Everything on the ship hit the ceiling, and Grahm himself almost fell 3 decks, but the ship was pulled parrelel to the relay, the lightning increasing in strength. Eventually Hargreave heard a defeaning roar, and then silence.

As the gravity subsided, Hargreave pushed against the roof and floated back towards the seat.

"Holy shit, how on Earth did the ship survive that trip twice?" Asked Hargreave. He heard Grahm groan from below.

"Grahm! You alive?" Shouted Hargreave.

"Yeah... I'm alive." He replied. Hargreave began to giggle and the two of them broke out into full blown hysterics.

"We fucking made it!" Shouted Hargreave halfway through his laughter fit.

One of the few surviving screens lit up. Three nearby heat signatures.

"Fuck! They followed us through!" Shouted Hargreave. He jumped back into the pilots seat.

"Grahm, crow flies to Keplar 13b as fast as you fucking can." Ordered Hargreave, attempting to use what was left of the engines to perform evasive manoeuvres.

"36 light years, three days. Hope there's some food and water left on this tin can." Shouted Grahm. "Jumping in three...Two..."

One of the shots glanced the ship's hull again, tearing across deck 24-20.

"One. Jumping!" Shouted Grahm.

The ship entered the warp bubble and the two men fell back in exhaustion and relief.

Hargreave removed the hardsuit helmet, the carbon dioxide having already been scrubbed from the command deck, and it not being breached.

"Fuck me. Aliens." Said Hargreave.

Hargreave climbed out of the chair and jumped, floating down to join Grahm at the bottom of the command deck.

As he landed, the mag boots activated, keeping him to the floor.

* * *

Twelve hours into the flight and the sensors on the ship had finally finished. No other survivors on the lower deck, the mess hall completely torn apart.

"We're going to die of thirst at this rate. If oxygen deprivation doesn't get us first. The Life support is barely holding together and the on deck oxygen recyclers are pretty damaged." Said Hargreave, having spent the last few hours going over their resources."

"All that is contingent on the drive core staying online. We can't leave the command deck, if she drops out again we are dead, no two ways about it."

Hargreave drew his M1911A5.

"Worst comes to the worst." Hargreave replied, slumping to the floor, exhausted.

"I'll keep first watch, do what I can from up here to keep everything running. We can Donner party the muntineers if we have to."

Hargreave almost laughed at that, which turned more into throwing up halfway through.

"Always the optimist." Said Hargreave.

"We'll make it back." Said Grahm.

"And what then. Our crew turned mutineer and have started a war with a powerful alien race. We're fucking dead."

"...Yeah." said Grahm weakly.

One of the computers lit up, and the ship dropped out of warp space.

"And the fucking Negative Mass drive fucking died. Welp." Said Hargreave, cocking his gun and placing it under his chin.

"Don't. The bullet will pierce the hull and I'll have a more painful death."

"Sorry, didn't think about that." Said Hargreave, cocking the gun again to eject the bullet out of the chamber and placing it back in his holster under his shirt.

"Well, we are going to die in interstellar space, and no one will ever know where and why." Said Hargreave.  
Grahm fell next to him.

"Yeah. No one but idiots head out this way."

"Where are we anyway?" Asked Hargreave.

Grahm activated his holopalm, and read the mapped out route for the Peqoud.

"Well, we are actually in a star system, astronomically small odds of that. About 5 AU from the star. Red dwarf."

"Fucking A. Any Planets?"

"dunno, uncharted system."

"Fuck. If this was Star Trek or something there'd be a garden world with blue alien women and magic powers." Said Hargreave, gritting his teeth.

"Well, at least we aren't in interstellar space."

"Small mercies. Sure you don't want the quick way?" Asked Hargreave, holding up his pistol again.

Grahm shook his head, and he holstered it again.

"I've been alive for 43 years, served in the armed forces, served in special ops even, and this is the shittiest situation I've ever found myself in." Said Hargreave.

"Hey, I'm 42, and yeah, you're right." Said Grahm.

The two of them sighed. Hargreave looking roughly Twenty five, thanks to getting to be a part of the Telomere project early, and Grahm looking in his early thirties being a poor ex Earther.

"Well, let's get some sleep. Don't want to be tired and dead." said Hargreave jokingly.

Grahm simply nodded in response, and the two began to sleep, Grahm placing his head on Hargreave's shoulder. And so, in the dead in the water ship, they too waited for death.

* * *

Hargeave felt something smack him in the face, and he jolted awake. One of the fucking terrifying Aliens was looking over him.

"Fuck." Mumbled Hargreave as he was dragged to his feet, with something that looked awfully like a pistol pointed at the back of his head. His day was just getting better and better.

* * *

 _ **Codex:**_

Epsilon Eridani b

Also called Freedom's Reach, the oldest extrasolar colony in human space. Over 2 billion people live on Freedom's Reach, and is one of the few Extrasolar colonies with it's own version of the Internet. In an Alliance with Tau Ceti and Procyon, which rival Sol for Economic, Political and Military power.  
 _ **  
Main belt Wars  
**_ In 2097, conflict in the MBF started when M83 and it's allied forces declared a stake on a large Rubidium asteroid which had already had a stake on by the people of Asteroid M-98231dd2.

M83 landed it's Marines on the Asteroid and blockaded M-9823dd2. M-9823dd2's allies in the MBF declare war on M83. For six months several space and land battles occur, ultimately ending in the destruction of M83 and the dissolution of MBF.  
 _ **  
Arcturus event**_

In 2104 the Arcturus system was utterly wiped off the map. Arcuturus was a quarantined system with a red giant star. With the lack of FTL communication, no cause is known, though the prevailing theory is catastrophic Helium flash.

 _ **Human Telomere Project:**_

In 2074, the Telomere regeneration project successfully reduced the ageing process in mice. After moving onto chimps and limited human testing, as well as extensive computer simulations and billions of coins spent, in 2091 they announced they had successfully developed Nanites that could reduce the chance of degeneration of Telomeres to 1/10, essentially meaning that the body only had a 1/10 chance in actually ageing as normal. Originally the nanites were prohibitively expensive, but over the next twenty years their price would reduce. They, along with extrasolar colonisation, are responsible for the enormous population boom that is still continuing to this day. In 2074, the human population was 12.5 billion. In 2124, forty years later, the human population is a whopping 150 billion.

It is illegal to use the Telomere nanites before the age of 20. They still cost roughly a years wage for a normal income family per person, but as people who take it can potentially live for over a thousand years, many banks are willing to lend the cash quite easily, and simply rely on compound interest to fuck the person over.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Alcubierre  
Chapter 3: Homecoming**_

The next few hours were, considering the last time it happened, wasn't the worst time Hargreave ever had being imprisoned. Place in the brig of a ship with artificial gravity, just left there. He hadn't had any food, but at least he had some water.

Grahm had been taken somewhere else, and for the moment Hargreave was all alone.

He walked around his cell.  
His captors were idiots. He still had his M1911A5 on him, which meant he had seven rounds and one in the chamber. Still, he was stuck on an Alien ship which had who knows how many people on board. For some reason they were still in system, orbiting around a gas giant.

He assumed he was being watched by Cameras, he kept his hands off of the gun.

By his guess, the Gravity was about 0.8g's or so. He'd have to watch his footing, but it was workable for all forms of Gravity based combat he knew. He still had a Knife holstered in his leg, but at least they had removed the one sheathed at his hip.

He observed his one guard. He seemed...

Almost brain dead. Starring into space for long periods of times, muttering to himself and scratching at his arms like a heroin addict. He looked to weigh about 90kg and be about 6ft tall. Occasionally he would turn around in paranoia, not at him, but at the empty hallway. Hargreave assumed was some kind of Assault rifle or Shotgun, though he had no idea which. It didn't have an ejection port, so Hargreave assumed it was some kind of energy weapon, maybe a gauss gun. Hargreave had no idea if it was a he or she, but called it a He for simplicities sake.

"I'm going to get out, and I'm going to kill you." Said Hargreave.

The alien barely spared him a glance.

Good to know they could understand him as much as he understood them.

The door to the brig opened, and Two aliens were dragging Grahm up by his arm's. Hargreave's guard opened the cell door for them and Grahm was thrown in there.

Hargreave immediately ran towards his friend, but was grabbed one of Grahm's guards and dragged out of the cell.  
"They... Understand me..." Mumbled Grahm through gritted teeth, though Hargreave barely heard him.  
Hargreave had cuffs thrown on his wrists.  
Before he could react Hargreave was marched out of the brig and through the ship.

The halls were all cramped, extremely dark with almost organic curves. It was strange, clearly not built for simplicity or structural integrity.  
They passed several of the Alien beings, some dressed in jumpsuits, others in what Hargreave could only assume were uniforms, and a few in plastic looking body armour.

After a while, the three of them entered an elevator, and they pushed a button.

Hargreave thought back to Grahm. He had a fairly obvious surgical scar across his temple, and some of his hair had been shaven off. No way Hargreave was going to suffer the same fate.

Quick as he could, Hargreave walked though in his head the body movements required, glancing at the Camera and his two guard, and limbered up his hands.

When the second light on the Elevators screen dimmed, Hargreave tore open his shirt and grabbed his gun. He span round and pistol whipped his guard on his right, before ducking and Shooting the other in the chest at point blank range, finally looking up and sending a single bullet into the camera. All within the space of two seconds.

Hargreave spared one bullet to kill the pistol whipped guard, then placed the pistol in his pocket and picked up the alien's gun.  
He had no idea how to prime it, what it fired or how, and with his hand's cuffed he couldn't hold it with much stability. Still, gripping the pistol grip with two hands he hefted up the rifle as if it was a pistol, and reselected the button for the first floor, the one he had just been on, and took cover in the sides of the elevator.

After about ten seconds the door opened.

Hargreave took less then half a second to spot four of the Alien bastards in front of him, all unarmed, before immediately opening fire.

The gun turned out to be an Assault rifle equivalent, and round after round pierced through the four aliens, Hargreave desperately fighting the recoil.

Alarms began to go off as he tried to retrace his steps back to the brig. Four Aliens were standing in the hallway, guns raised, and immediately began to open fire, Hargreave had barely enough time to dive into a doorway and take cover. Seemed the Aliens weren't worried about hull breaches for whatever reason.

Their fire was slow, but never seemed to end, Hargreave counted their firing pattern. Occasionally one would stop firing but the others would continue, and by the time another needed to stop they would be ready to fire again. Glancing at his own weapon, Hargreave didn't see anything like a traditional Magazine. Cooldown energy weapon? God-damn, it was like those Sci fi videogames.

This gauntlet was impassable without a grenade.

Unloading his M1911 magazine, he threw it round the corner. He heard the Aliens begin to move and the firing stop, so he turned the corner and rushed forward, opening fire.

The bullets slammed into them, but once again did nothing for a few shots.  
 _God-damn personal energy shields?_

But eventually they broke, and Hargreave managed to kill two of them by the time he got within melee range. They had worked out the "Grenade" was a dud and tried to aim their weapons at Hargreave, but at this range he was faster, launching kicks and punches, using the one bullet in the chamber of his m1911 to kill one of them, before elbowing the other in the chest and headbutting him.

The Alien fell to the floor, and Hargreave stood on his neck and applied pressure. Seemed their shields, however they worked, couldn't stop melee strikes.

When Hargreave heard a satisfactory snap, Hargreave reached down and carefully, with both hands in binds, picked up the m1911 magazine.

He picked up his alien assault rifle and fired into the aliens, double checking they were all dead. He looked up and saw more Aliens armed heading his way. Hargreave dived into the brig, and closed the door behind him. He had no idea how to lock it. Glancing up he saw his previous prison guard turning around and aiming his weapon. Hargreave unloaded his assault rifle, aiming from his feet and letting the recoil carry the gun up towards until his energy shields broke and several rounds pierced his skull. As the gun got stupidly hot, the Alien fell to the floor.

Hargreave dropped the gun and started to search through the guards pockets.

"It's... It's a card to open the door." Mumbled Grahm.

Hargreave found a card on the corpse and quickly opened the cell door.

"Grahm, get up, we're getting out of here." Said Hargreave.

Grahm stop clutching his head and looked at Hargreave. His was covered in red blood, picking up a rifle in two hands by it's pistol grip, and desperately glancing between Grahm himself and the door.

"Grahm, pick up his gun and Try and break my cuffs." Said Hargreave.

Grahm stumbled to his feet and picked up a rifle.

"Hargreave... I can understand them. They put something in my head. I can read their language... Understand their whispers." said Grahm.

"Grahm, we are about to be overwhelmed. Just take cover until they stop coming. Step back far enough to not get hit by a grenade through the door." Said Hargreave.

Grahm nodded. Grahm remained in the Cell, poking it through the bars of the cell. Hargreave crouched in the furthest corner from the door and kept the gun on a table to stabilise it.

"Get ready for a flashbang or a frag if they don't mind hull breaches. They'd have to be braindead to rush in on foot." Said Hargreave. He sighed. "Get ready to die Buddy."

The door Opened and Hargreave tensed up. And to his suprise, a few of the aliens rushed in, not even using a flashbang or concussion grenade. It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Hargreave and Grahm opened fire. They just kept rushing in, climbing atop the bodies of their comrades. Eventually the doorway was almost entirely blocked by bodies. Their shields made sure they at least made it past the doorway, but not much further.

The gunfire stopped for a few seconds. The two of them must've killed at least 17 aliens.

Sighing and breathing deeply, Hargreave let go of his gun and rubbed his forehead. Before placing both hands back on it.

"What the fuck is with these guys? How could an advanced alien race be so stupid. You holding up Grahm?" Hargreave asked.

"What? Yeah... I... I'm fine." Grahm replied.

"Look... This ship is about a light cruiser class, about 160m long. Military ships would have roughly 140 marines, including guards. We must've killed about 30 in total. The rest may have absolutely no combat training." Said Hargreave, finally finding hope in the situation.

"Golorias nor subjokr." Grahm replied.

"What the hell?" Asked Hargreave, turning to his friend.

He clutched his head for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Sorry. I meant... Yeah. If we can get out of here and find some way to warp back to Kepler 138b..." Said Grahm.

"Let's not get too hopeful." Said Hargreave. He breathed in and out. "They are likely finally realising that maybe just walking through a doorway isn't the best way to kill us. Got any idea how we get out of this Mexican stand-off?"

Grahm scratched his head.

"Think we can get this guns to blow up?" Asked Grahm.

"no idea. Think you can get these cuffs off me?"

"Worth a try. I've got the door covered, make your way over."

Crouching and walking over, keeping his pilfered assault rifle trained on the corpse ridden door.

He re-entered the cell. Grahm stopped aiming at the door and drew a micro nano forger from his pocket. Placing it on the floor, it melted some metal and formed a small blade only a few atoms thick. He sliced through the cuffs.

Placing both hands on the gun properly, Hargreave nodded to Grahm.

"Really should've bought one of those back on Kepler. All right." Said Hargreave. The two of them returned to training their sights on the door.

"They have to kill us, and we have to kill them. We haven't eaten in about a day or two. They can simply starve us out before walking over our corpses. We've got to make the..."

As Hargreave was talking, another three Aliens tried to make their way through. Hargreave and Grahm immediately opened fire. After a few seconds of substained fire, two of them fell to the floor, dead, whilst one was slumped against a wall, breathing in and out and leaking blood through his shoulder.

Grahm was about to put a round into his head when Hargreave held up his hand. Dropping the assault rifle, he switched to his m1911.

He carefully made his way to the Alien, keeping the pistol aimed at his head. Once he was close enough, he dragged the dying alien to his feet and placed his gun against his temple, holding it in front of him.

"Grahm, keep behind me. If you can talk the Alien language, tell them to drop their weapons or we blow off his head." Said Hargreave.

Grahm nodded.  
He spoke the strange gurgling alien language to the Alien, who weakly starred into space, not responding.

Hargreave carefully walked over the bodies of the others and into the hallway. He looked around. Twenty on his right, Twenty on his left, all aiming weapons at him.

"Glaorahu kragh gorlistdor, Asamor gro grallic!" Shouted Grahm from behind him.

The Aliens kept the guns aimed at Hargreave, but didn't open fire. He reached the opposite wall of the corridor and span around. He was still stuck here, and his hostage was eventually going to die.

Keeping his breathing regular, he remembered both he and Grahm had their mag boots on. He had 42 seconds to survive the vacuum of space, more if he stayed on board and the air rushed past him.

He looked down and saw a metallic cylinder with a button on the top, with a symbol of what he recognised as an explosive written on it, as if explaining a grenade to a child.  
 _They had grenades the entire time? Are these guys actually mentally ill?_

In one swift moment, he did the feet manoeuvre to activate his mag boots, swiped the grenade from the Alien's waist, pressed the button and dived back into the brig. The Aliens opened fire, but as the door close he planted his feet firmly on the ground, and Grahm instinctively did the same. Hargreave heard a loud bang just outside the door, and the door actually bent and burnt from the shock wave. Less then a second later, the air began to rush out of the room. Grabbing Grahm's hand, he began to enter the hallway and run.

The most important thing to do when exposed to the vacuum of space is to not hold your breath. The pressure differential will damage your lungs and you'll die quicker, instead, breath in and out as normal, the air rushing past can be breathed, as can whatever waste oxygen your body doesn't process. The average life expectancy is 42 seconds, though one man survived a full ten minutes before dying of asphyxiation.

The two of them rushed through the hall, past the aliens flying past. The doors at the end of the corridor some 10m away began to close. If they got stuck in this corridor they would be dead.

Hargreave noticed a grenade flying past and grabbed it out of the air. He couldn't throw it, it would just fly out of the hull breach.

The door slammed closed on them. Hargreave kept breathing calmly, and primed the grenade, sticking it in a crevice of the door and getting well back.

By Hargreave's estimation, he had been stuck here for 40 seconds. There would be no air cycling in here, now he had only 42 seconds.

The door blew up, and once again Hargreave was hit by a gust of air, but pushed on, dragging Grahm by the hand back through the door.

They ran on, passing through yet another blast door. It slammed just behind them.

They caught their breath, then looked up. They were in a large room with various computer terminals, and several terrified looking unarmed Aliens. The room stretched all the way to where Hargreave assumed was the front of the ship.

Hargreave aimed his pistol around, despite the fact he actually only had roughly 4 bullets left in the gun.

"Zolar! Gro Harbingou nar Zarra Zerost kor damar!" Shouted Grahm, who was also sweeping his gun around, threatening the aliens.

"What did you say?" Hargreave whispered.

"We are taking over this ship, do as I say or we'll kill you all." Said Grahm.

Hargeave smiled wryly. They were such good ambassadors.

Grahm began to bark orders, whilst Hargreave moved to lock out the other corridor on the other side of the room, Keeping his pistol trained on the door, ready to fight to the death.

* * *

Eventually, Grahm found a way to vent all the air from the lower levels, and the 17 or so Aliens in the CIC were the only ones alive on board. All Hargreave and Grahm had to worry about was one of them killing them in their sleep. They swapped watches to keep an eye on them. It turned out the Ship had travelled roughly 4 light years in roughly the correct direction to human civilisation since they were captured, and the Max speed of the ship was about 8 light years a day. They had water, but agreed not to risk eating the Alien food, but strictly rationed what the Aliens could eat too.

They were close to starvation, but eventually entered the system of Kepler 138.

They stopped Mass Accelerating at 90km from the orbital station, and sent a out a priority radio message, explaining everything they could.

As tempting as it was to sell the technology for massive bucks, this was too big a discovery for them.

They sold off some of the Assault rifles and other guns for food supplies, and asked a Ship heading out to the Core regions to send someone to talk to them about an Alien threat.

After almost two weeks of living off selling Element Zero guns as Grahm called them, finally a ship from Tau Ceti arrived.

The TCN Stormfront, the flagship of the Inner core Alliance. A massive 670m long Supercarrier, armed with more Gauss turrets than most ships had point defence guns, and equipped with 40 Warp drive equipped fighters. It also had a massive Centrifugal ring around it, for greater area with artificial gravity. She was the most expensive ship ever built, and only matched only by the Sol Navy Supercarrier "SNS Reach beyond Grasp".

Ten marines, an intelligence officer, a diplomat and Admiral Losarian boarded the Alien craft.

Hargeave and Grahm were sat across the table from them. All the Aliens were shoved in one of the rooms on the lower deck.

"Our Crew mutineered. Both me and Grahm were incapacitated during the trip. When I awoke, the Aliens, 3 ships identical to this one, where firing on my ship and caused significant damage. I believe that every single member of my crew other than me and Grahm are dead." Explained Hargreave.

"We travelled back through the "Mass Relay", but our ship was too damage to complete the trip back to Kepler 138. We were taken aboard by the Aliens." explained Hargreave.

"They put something in my head that allowed me to understand their language, and me and Hargreave managed to break out and kill every single armed Alien aboard." Said Grahm.

"That is... An incredible story. Well, I'm afraid you have two options. You can hand over this ship, every alien onboard and comply with our orders, or we will arrest you and execute you for likely starting a interstellar war." Said Admiral Losarian, glancing at her nails then glaring straight into their eyes.

Hargreave and Grahm looked at each other, and easily decided what the choice was.

"Go fuck yourself." said Hargreave.  
"We will comply." Said Grahm. They looked back at each other again, then Hargreave sighed and said.

"Sure, the ship's yours." Said Hargreave.

"Your discovery is already causing waves in nearby systems. And we need you to comply with us. If your telling the truth, and Mr Grahm, if you can actually understand their language, you two are our only help if they decide to invade us." Said the agent.

"We haven't mentioned something... the Aliens seemed... Not entirely compos mentis." Said Grahm.

Hargreave gritted his teeth.

"Yeah. They failed to utilise basic infantry tactics, had little regard for their own survival and didn't search us for weapons or objects." Said Hargreave. "They also seemed spaced out and unable to focus. If they were humans I'd assume they are heroin addicts or brainwashed." Said Hargreave.

"...So this is how two explorers managed to take over an alien craft?" Asked the Agent.

"Essentially yes." Said Grahm.

Hargreave turned to look at both the Admiral and Agent.

"look, Aliens put a fucking implant in my friend's head, and somehow it worked without them ever encountering a member of his species and fucking auto translates. They aren't god-damn smart enough to develop that kind of stuff. We need to get that out of Grahm's head." Said Hargreave.

"We'll have top people look into this. Please, sign this document." Said the Agent, opening his Holopalm and swiping it across to Hargreave and Grahm.

The both began to read it. Drafted into the Inner Core systems Military, official secrets act, Various disclaimers. Hargreave's one was fairly tame, but Grahm's version including several terrifying additions, including them owning his body should he die and allowing for invasive medical experiments. Whilst Hargreave easily signed the document, Grahm started to go pale.

"All right buddy?" Asked Hargreave.

Grahm shook his head. It was sign or die.

"Yeah. Just reading the small print." Grahm replied. He signed it with his thumb print.

"Welcome to the Corp of the inner core." Admiral Losarian with a big grin.

* * *

Stuck in a room onboard the Stormfront for a week, in orbit above Kepler 138b, Hargeave and Grahm could do nothing but watch as scientists descended on the ship they stole. Apparently the Aliens were onboard too, but they were being interrogated, and whatever bodies left on board were dissected. Grahm was brought in to aid with interrogations, and reported back what the scientists had learnt.

The Aliens had implants in their skulls like his, and those that did had noticeably reduced brain chemistry.

"We've got to get that fucking implant out of your head." Said Hargreave.

"It's likely the only thing that kept both of us alive." Said Grahm. "Both on the ship and after we got back."

"Have the Docs managed to work out if it's damaging you?" Asked Hargreave.

"No. They are even looking into getting this implant into other people." Said Grahm.

"Fucking Inner core psychopaths." Growled Hargreave under his breath.

"Aren't you from Freedom reach?" asked Grahm jokingly.

"I haven't lived there since I left the military." Said Hargreave. "That was a decade ago."

The two of them stared into space as the stars moved down the glass, a side effect of the Centrifugal effect.

"You think they are out there?" Asked Grahm.

"We have opened Pandora's box. They aren't as fast of us, but their tech is more advanced. Hell, they have fucking relativistic weaponry. One well aimed shot can tear apart even a supercarrier." Said Hargreave. "And even their Infantry needs multiple bullets to take down. We might well be fucked."

"Well, as you said, they are slower then us. I mean, The Peqoud was ten years old at this point, and even she could travel to 15 light years a day at best. That Alien one could barely manage 8 LY." Said Grahm.

"Still, they might come h..."

Alarms blared across the ship.

"The fuck?" Asked Hargreave.

Hargreave and Grahm looked out of the window. After about thirty seconds,the Centrifugal armed moved enough.

And a alien looking fight craft speed passed the ship, shooting chemical laser beams at the ship and tearing chunks out of it.

"ALL HANDS! MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! RED ALERT." Shouted someone over the intercom.

"Fuck!" Shouted both Grahm and Hargreave.

Hargreave and Grahm ran out of the door and ran across the slightly uphill floor, desperate to get off the easily damaged Centrifugal ring. But so was everyone else.

They ran into one of Grahm's handlers ran towards them.

"Grahm, Hargreave, we've got to get you out of system." Said Lt Hannah Shepard.

"Got our weapons?" asked Hargreave.

"Weapons? Didn't you hear me? We're leaving." Said Hannah.

"Better safe than sorry." Hargreave replied.

Hannah sighed, handing over Hargreave's personal M1991A5, seven magizine, and Grahm a Glock 44c-2 autopistol and four magazines.

"Right, so you've got a fighter not being deployed?" Asked Grahm.

"Yes. Our target is about twenty light years away." said Hannah.

"Lead the way."

The three of them began to run, whilst everyone was suiting up in hardsuits and battle armour, Hargreave, Shepard and Grahm were climbing down towards the ship itself.

* * *

The three of them climbed into a Lockhead-Martin F-99XG gauss Warp fighter.  
"You know how to pilot this?" Asked Grahm.

"Aren't you two able to pilot capital ships?" Asked Shepard.

"Sure, but we aren't fighter pilots." Said Hargreave.

"Bloody hell. Anyway, yeah, I can fly it." Said Shepard. She began to activate the fighter, and the console lit up.

Their fighter was already the only one to leave the carrier, and so was easily able to gather enough speed and disembark.

Soon they were flying around in the void of space, and they saw just what was happening.

The Fighter picked up 170 heat signatures not on IFF. Ranging from almost a hundred corvettes, to two 2km terrifying battleships of an unknown class. The Fighters from Stormfront and it's escort wing were being torn apart by the Alien ships.

"Fucking hell! An entire god damn fleet!" shouted Shepard.

"Get us the fuck out of here!" shouted Grahm.

"Has our stolen ship jumped away?" Asked Hargreave.

Hannah looked at her LADAR screen.

"Yeah, the ships been taken away. Lucky bastards."

"Then what are we waiting for? Warp us out!" shouted Grahm,

"I'm on it!" shouted Hannah.

The ships Negative mass drive began to spin up behind the passenger compartment.

But a bolt of laser fire tore through the negative drive.

"DAMN!" The three of them shouted.

Emergency radiation procedures kicked in, protecting those in the cabin from the radiation leak. But they could no longer jump out of system.

"Land us on the planet. We aren't going to get out of here without a FTL capable ship." suggested Hargeave.

"You two aren't in charge, you aren't even proper military." Said Shepard.

Warning lights flared up across the fighter, stating an incoming unknown heat signature, likely the fighter closing in.

"Land or we all die!" Shouted Grahm.

"Fucking hell!" Shouted Shepard, entering into a Ailerion roll, then turning toward the garden world of Kepler 138b.

They saw the systems main space habitation, the kepler 138b starbase, being torn apart by constant mass accelerator fire.

"God damn, let's hope someone on planet has a FTL ship." Said Hargreave.

The ship accelerated towards the planet, dodging mass accelerator fire not especially aimed at them.

They noticed on the LADAR screen that several alien ships were heading into atmosphere.

"Fucking hell? Capital ships in atmosphere? Are they insane?" Said Shepard.

"Probably. You good on foot?" asked Hargreave.

"Yeah. You two?" Asked Shepard.

"Grahm's ex Gangster, I'm ex spec-ops." Hargreave replied.

"Really? What unit?" Asked Shepard sceptically.

"Is now really the time?" Asked Grahm.

"Eridani Intelligence service, Special Observations and Interference group." Said Hargreave matter of factly.

"Fucking hell, that is pretty hardcore." said Shepard.

"Fangirl later, get us planet side." Said Hargreave.

"Fucking hell, bossy for a civvy aren't you?" Asked Shepard.

* * *

By the time they had broke atmosphere, aliens had already made landfall in the capital. They landed about four kilometres from the capital city of Kepler 138b, Euclid bay, in the foggy forests of Asparia.

They landed in a small clearing, and preparing to walk into the city. As Shepard put on the sole Combat exosuit onboard the fighter, Hargreave looked up above the treeline. Small meteors, likely the debris from the starbase, were falling into the atmosphere, followed close behind by a few Alien frigates.

He cocked his gun and turned to both Shepard and Grahm.

"There may be a few light trader shuttles left in the city, but anyone with any sense would've taken off the moment word got through about an attack on the orbital station." Said Hargreave.

"Tau Ceti has agents in place in all colonies for just such a situation. They won't leave until ordered to do so by a priority two or higher task." replied Shepard. She motioned to Grahm, who had just finished double checking his pistol. "He's priority one."

"Hope you're right." Said Hargreave. He cocked his M1911, chambering the round, before holding it up, bending his eyes and looking down the iron sights. The Aliens may have just made planetfall, but drones or even infantry could move fast. "Any idea where they are?"

"Down town area, by the business district. Has a shuttle parked on the roof." Said Shepard, looking up the details on her holopalm.

"Strange how a lieutenant knows that..." Said Hargreave.

"Strange how a member of SOIG ends up as a glorified merc in the ass end of the galaxy." Shepard retorted.

Hargreave chuckled, then returned to a combat stance.

"I'm on point, you two cover my back." Said Shepard, readying a M-97 Mattock gunpowder Assault rifle.

"Roger." Both Grahm and Hargreave responded. Without her big guns and body armour, they weren't as prepared to take point as she was.

They started to walk through the forest, crunching through the undergrowth. They kept low, listening intently for any noise, whether talking, movement or engines. They continued on this way till Shepard threw up her hand, causing them to stop.

She held her right hand to her right temple, and her helmet's HUD zoomed in.

"Got a house in the clearing. Bunch of people, about 40." Said Shepard.

"Human?" Asked Hargreave.

"Aye. Bunch of civvy's with guns. Look like rednecks." Said Shepard.

"Average colonist then." Replied both Hargreave and Grahm simultaneously with grins.

"We'll make contact. They might've fled the city." Said Shepard.

Hargreave and Grahm nodded, Hargreave cocking his pistol and catching the ejected round in mid-air, pocketing it until he needed a new one.

They walked towards the house in the clearing, a metallic structure made from several prefab units, Three stories tall, about 20m by 30m.

With their guns lowered, Shepard walked forward, holding her hand up.

"Evening." she said, Hargreave and Grahm following behind.

About forty guns turned on the three of them.

"Lower your weapons! They're human!" Shouted a voice from the building. Hargreave looked up to see a man in a third story window next to a Gauss sniper rifle with a bidpod. Looking in the direction it was facing, he noticed it was directly to the capital.

"You military?" Asked one of the crowd. A young women with short cut blonde hair, holding her Double barreled shotgun by the shoulder, leaving it dangling by her right side.

"She is. We're explorers." Hargreave said, speaking before Shepard did. "You guys evacuate from the city?"

"Yeah. We were on the outskirts. Those fucking aliens were doing sweeps of our neighbourhoods. Fuck those guys that brought that ship here and brought them down on us." The girl replied. The crowd began to disperse, building crude defences and collecting ammunition, handing it to the ones with bigger guns.

"Yeah, fucking assholes." Said Hargreave with a grin. "I'm Captain William Shatner, this is Deforest Kelly and Lieutenant Nimoy." He pointed at Grahm and Shepard respectively.

"God to see your armed. We're expecting those alien assholes to move in soon." Said the girl. "I'm Karrin. We've got injured inside, and were about to set up a defensive perimeter soon. Any help would be appreciated."

"We've got to make our way to the capital." Said Shepard bluntly.

"No way in hell you're making it there. The Alien bastards made landfall about half an hour ago and deployed drones, infantry and tanks. Hell, the stuff they did to the bodies..." Said one of the older men in the crowd.

An ear splitting bestial roar cried out in the distance.

"The fuck was that?" Asked Hargreave, everyone else asking roughly the same thing. Hargreave turned to the man aiming through the sniper's sight towards the city.

"Holy shit! Running god-damn corpses heading this way! Everyone! Get ready!" He shouted.  
Hargreave readied his weapon as everyone began running around like headless chickens. The first one broke through the treeline. A human being, almost entirely black and emancipated, save for blue lines following the route of veins and bones. It launched another terrifying scream, and a hundred of them broke through, running as fast as they could towards the ill prepared defenders. Hargreave aimed, and opened fire.

* * *

 _ **Codex:**_

 _ **The Inner core Alliance**_

An Alliance between the three largest colonies in human space, Tau Ceti, Epsilon Eridani and Procyon. With roughly 14 billion citizens within these three systems, they have considerable economic, military and political power. They have several satellite colonies across human space tied to them, just like Sol, who aren't officially part of the alliance.

 _ **Special Observation and Interference Group**_

A special operations designed to conduct long range undercover assignments in politically hostile environments with zero backing from their home government in wilderness conditions. Individuals are asked to maintain their own network of safe houses and informants across human space, and maintain their own equipment. Upon retirements, such assets are handed over to the government for use in more typical clandestine operations.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Alcubierre  
Chapter 4: Intervention via applied Relativistic principles**_

Hargreave opened fire, the .45 acp bullet slamming into the emancipated walking corpse. It fell, but by the time it did so two more had reached it's place, pouring out of the forest. The other civilians began to open fire, and corpse after corpse fell.

But they kept coming. By the time Hargreave had secured 6 kills and used 7 bullets, the horde had already reached the crude barricades and were starting to tear through it. Hargreave watched as a young man, no older then thirty, was pulled over the barricade and torn apart by two walking corpses.

Hargreave reloaded, careful to keep the empty magazine, opening fire and walking backwards slowly. He reloaded once more, having made his way far enough back to Shepard, who was laying down suppressing fire with her assault rifle, one of the few fully automatic weapons the group had. The Corpses paid it no mind, and kept running straight towards the weakening defences.

Hargreave glanced right, and noticed Grahm looking at him weirdly, not shooting his gun.

"GRAHM! OPEN FIRE!" Shouted Hargreave.

He shook his head, as if waking from a trance, and began to aid Shepard in giving covering fire with his automatic pistol, allowing those near the almost broken barricade to retreat back towards the house.

"Everyone get in!" shouted a voice from the house. Hargreave tapped Shepard on the shoulder, and she began to walk backwards to the house, still burst firing into the ever growing horde.

Hargreave moved next, reloading and retreating slowly, pistol whipping a corpse as it came too close, before shouting at Grahm to get over.

Grahm did so, firing his gun fully automatically until it went click, then running at full speed into the doorway.

They waited for the last few survivors to make their way in, before the corpses started to charge the door. They slammed it close, leaving the four or so people outside to die. Hargreave helped throw a bookcase down behind the door, whilst Shepard was ordering people to windows to shoot out of and others to collect ammo.

Hargreave heard the solid thud and felt the slight static in the air from an Gauss rifle being fired upstairs. The human corpses that walked were light enough to be taken down with simple small arms fire. Which meant...

Hargreave ran upstairs right to the top floor, through the hallway and into the bedroom which faced Euclid bay, and saw the old man, on his knees, a GS-2APR-4 rifle poking out of the window, a dozen fusion cartridges on the floor next to him.

Hargreave made his way over, kneeling down next to the old man. And saw the aliens marching out of the treeline.

The gunshots were aimed straight for the two of them. Hargreave pulled the old man down as bullets cascaded through the wall, narrowly missing the two of them.

When the firing stopped, Hargreave chanced a look up. The Aliens had taken cover, and were now focused on the ground floor, were the majority of the defenders were.

"There's more coming through the forest."Said the old man, looking through the sniper scope.

"Any more of those walking corpses?" Asked Hargreave, barely overheard above the gunfire from below.

"Not that I can see, must be two hundred surrounding the house though.

"Can we get on the roof? I'll spot, you kill." Said Hargreave.

"You got spotter training?" Asked the old man.

"At this range I'm just there to keep you alive. Can we get up there?" Asked Hargreave.

The old man nodded, and Hargreave got to his feet, aiming his pistol through the now utterly destroyed window.

"There's a M-4 carbine in the safe in my room." Said the old man. Hargreave nodded. An older weapon, but if it was good enough for the US military for coming on 3 decades it was good enough for him. "Code's 34345"

Hargreave nodded. The old man made his way to the centre of the hallway, and looked up at a hatch. Hargreave rolled over the bed towards a floor safe. As it opened with a hiss, Hargreave whistled to himself. A pristine M4A1 carbine, complete with ACOG 4 x 32 scope, a pistol front grip, Flash suppressor, adjustable stock, light strap and collapsible bipod. Picking it up, he picked up seven magazines worth of 5.56mm AP rounds.

He pocketed the magazines, strapped the gun over his shoulder and climbed up the collapsible ladder onto the roof the old man had brought down.

Immediately Hargreave kept prone, crawling his way across the flat roof over towards the old man, who was setting up his Gauss rifle.

"I only brought up 5 cartridges with me, so we've got 25 spare shots before one of us has to go down and grab more." Whispered the old man, unfolding the bipod and activating the gauss rings.

"How many hot rounds?" Asked Hargreave, referring to the amount of charge left in the gun currently.

"4 more." Said the old man. Hargreave committed the number 29 to memory.

"Got enough 2mm?" asked Hargreave.

"Yeah, for now." Said the old man. Hargreave nodded, before log rolling to about 2m away from the old man.

"The Aliens have got some decent armour and energy shields, so your gun is probably the only one shot weapon we have." Said Hargrea as unclipped the M4's front grip and unfurled the bipod, placing the gun down. He looked down the sights, aiming at one of the aliens, and hope to god the sights were calibrated recently.

Hargreave heard a roar and the scream of people downstairs, and reloaded his m1911.

"Ignore them. Those Aliens are going to move in and we're the only ones who can stop them. You ready?" Said Hargreave.

The old man nodded.

He looked down the scope, and Hargreave did the same. One of the Aliens, one out of about 40, was hand signalling to the others, and they were beginning to move towards the house, guns drawn.

Hargreave clenched his teeth as he felt the static whirr, followed immediately by the loud bang and thud of a gauss rifle firing. His auditory augmentation began to do it's work, naturally blocking out the worst of the gunfire, and Hargreave watched the shot. The Alien, the one who had been hand signalling, was now a visceral mess on the forest clearing's floor.

Hargreave aimed slightly to the left at an Alien looking shocked at his deceased comrade and opened fire, launching a three round burst.

The Alien flinched, but the same blue blur appeared before the rounds could penetrate. Hargreave wasn't dismayed though, and kept repeating his burst fire. After three such bursts in rapid succession, two bullets slammed into the right of his chest and his left eye respectively, dropping the alien. Hargreave clenched his teeth again as the hairs on his arm began to rise, and another loud bang went off next to him. A tree fell down, and the Aliens looked up to the two of them, opening fire whilst retreating. Hargreave heard the sound of movement below, and let go of the carbine, getting to his feet and aiming the pistol down the ladder.

The people were running up from downstairs and guard the top of the stairs. Those armed with shotguns or sub machine guns were at the front knelt down, whilst those with rifles and pistols were making their way pass Hargreave view, likely to fire from behind them.

"Get the injured in the bathroom!" Hargreave heard a familiar voice say, and he saw Shepard, a nasty gash on her head but otherwise okay giving out orders, pointing to a man with a missing arm and a women cradling her stomach, trying to keep her guts inside.

"Is Grahm all right?" Shouted Hargreave. Shepard ignored him for few seconds, before looking up and nodding. Hargreave relaxed. Even after his own selfish reasons, keeping Grahm alive was priority one, seeing as he understood the alien language.

Hargreave ran back to his gun and returned to the prone position just as the Aliens began spraying automatic fire from somewhere within the forest.

Hargreave looked down the sights, and could just make out the outline of one of them taking cover behind a fallen tree about 80m away. He switched to semi automatic fire and began to slowly fire shot after shot into the tree, relying on the AP rounds to work to full effect. The old man looked to where Hargreave was aiming then moved aimed at the same target and pulled the trigger. The gauss round move so fast through the air it caused a jet of plasma to envelope it, setting fire to the three trees it pierced on the way to it's target, slamming into the Alien and causing him to disappear into a fine pink mist.

"Switching! 25!" shouted the old man. Hargreave cursed under his breath. The old man had overcharged the shot. Typical gauss rounds were good enough for lightly armoured vehicles, what he was doing was incredibly wasteful of ammo.

"Reloading!" shouted Hargreave after he saw the man had finished. 4 bullets left in the mag on his left. He committed that to memory and pulled back on the charging handle before re aiming. He couldn't spot anymore Aliens, and the gun fire from downstairs had started.

Hargreave patted the old man on the back and made his way back over to the ladder.

The Walking corpses were now so close to the firing line the militia had to physically push against them. Hargreave switch to full auto and fired a few bursts down the staircase. The walking corpses began to tumble down the staircase, and whilst a few looked up at him, they still charged relentlessly towards the collapsing firing line.

Hargreave held down the trigger, spraying 18 rounds down the staircase. The gun clicked, and Hargreave rapidly dropped the magazine and reloaded, pulling the charging handle and once again spraying down the stairs. The fallen corpses of the walking dead had no almost fully blocked the stairway.

"They can't get past!" shouted Karrin. "Everyone, load your spare mags and get a break!"

Hargreave wiped his head, and looked over his shoulder.

He noticed the old man was rapidly spamming Gauss shots, firing 3 times. 22 left.

Hargreave ran over to the edge of the roof as he loaded another magazine. As he did so, a circular object hovered over the rim of the roof. It was a flat metallic circle, a blue aura emanated from the centre of it. Hargreave dived to the side as the drone unleashed a barrage of gun fire. It was aiming at the old man, and tore him apart, before pull up it's rapid firing gun and began to sweep towards Hargreave.

He rolled to the side. He was lying on his back and quickly aimed his rifle, holding the trigger down. The shields on the drone broke, and it flinched as a single bullet hit it, but the drone was still hovering. Hargreave rapidly dropped the rifle and pulled out his m1911. He fired seven bullets into the drone, and it flinched again, but was still floating. It began to re aim at Hargreave.

He ran towards the old man's corpse, rolling and picking up the Gauss rifle. The Drone and Hargreave fired at the same time. A bullet tore through Hargreave's left arm, and Hargreave's gauss round tore through the drone's machinery. It crashed onto the roof and fizzled out.

Hargreave dropped the gauss rifle and held his left arm up. The bullet had torn though his Humerus, and was completely inoperable.

Hargreave gingerly placed the gauss rifle back down into a sniping position on the edge of the roof, fell prone, held his left arm behind his back and his right on the grip and trigger guard, and aimed down the sight.

The Aliens were breaking through the treeline again, moving up and taking cover every few metres before signalling and moving on to the next piece of cover.

Hargreave aimed and held his breath, moving the heavy rifle with a single arm was going to be difficult, never-mind when he had to reload.

He aimed at one of the Aliens giving hand signal orders and pulled the trigger. The gauss round tore through his skull, the tree behind him and impacted the earth with a small explosion. The tree fell backwards, bringing another few trees with it.

Hargreave swivelled round. The aliens were beginning to circle the house and were clearly preparing to begin their assault.

Hargreave heard footsteps behind him and he rolled over from his stomach to his back, drawing his m1911 and aiming it with one hand at the approaching figure.

Karrin held up her arms in a gesture of surrender.

"We've ran out of 12gauge. Figured you could use a hand." She said, reloading a Mataba auto revolver. The 2087 version if he had to guess.

"My arm's dead. You had sniper training?" Said Hargreave, rolling back onto his stomach and taking aim. He pulled the trigger, and the round slammed into one of the Alien's chest, carving a 30cm hole into it and slamming into the ground.

"No." She said.

"Well, at this range you don't need it. Reload this for me." Said Hargreave, pointing to the gauss rifle. He stood up and crouched again, pulling out his M1911 and checking it for damage.

Karrin nodded and went prone, placing her left hand on the bottom of the barrel, hefting the heavy gun and ejecting the fusion cartridge before reloading another one.

"I've never shot a gauss weapon." She admitted.

Hargreave nodded.

"Grit your teeth, don't touch any exposed metal until after firing. Try not to flinch too much if you get a static shock." Hargreave rattled off.

A hail of gun fire from two sides of the house forced Hargreave prone.

"How many breaking through?" Asked Hargreave.

Karrin scanned the treeline through the gauss rifle's scope, counting under her breath.

"40." She said.

Hargreave sighed.

"How many are left alive down stairs out of the original 40 or so?" asked Hargreave.

"Twenty four." She replied.

Hargreave sighed.

He pulled out a syringe of some strange metallic looking liquid from his jacket pocket.

"You saw nothing." Said Hargreave. Karrin nodded and returned to scanning the treeline. She pulled the trigger, and she flinched from both the noise and the static in the air.

Hargreave injected the metallic liquid directly above his bullet wound. The Medical flesh and bone repairing nanites, highly illegal in human space, began to begin basic repairs of the bone and metallic replacement of some of the flesh lost, completing nerve endings so he had full movement in the arm.

"Isn't that illegal?" Asked Karrin moments before pulling the trigger again.

"So are a lot of things." Said Hargreave, Picking up his discarded m4 carbine, reloading it. He strapped it round his back.

"Tell the soldier woman and Deforest that I'm likely to not make it." Said Hargreave, before standing up.

He began to sprint across the rooftop, gunfire whizzing past his head. He slide towards the end of the roof not facing the Aliens and Climbed over it. He griped the edge of the roof, his whole body hanging over the side, and let go.  
He dropped for a story before he reached out and grabbed another ledge on a second floor window. His arm screamed in pain, but he dropped again, landing on the clearing floor with a roll.

He sprinted into the forest.

Hargreave looked over his shoulder. The Aliens were beginning to move up outside of the gauss rifles field of fire and were starting to enter the house. Hargreave kept low, crouching and walking towards were the majority of the Alien infantry were taking cover.

Hargreave shouldered his m4 and aimed. Three aliens were taking cover behind a fallen tree and were poking their heads over it. Hargreave ran towards them, gun raised, and sprayed copious amounts of fire into one of the Aliens. By the time he reached them and the other two aliens had taken aim, the first Alien was dead.

Hargreave slammed the butt of his rifle into the helmet of one of the aliens. Before the gun had time to drop round his body or the Alien could stop lurching back Hargreave drew his pistol and fired four rounds directly into the Alien's helmet at point blank range. Shattering the helmet and the Alien's skull. The third Alien began to open fire, so Hargreave performed a roundhouse kick, ripping the gun from the Alien's hand. He was facing almost away from the Alien, so he grabbed his arm and threw him over his own shoulder onto the floor. Still gripping the Alien's arm, Hargreave placed one foot on his shoulder and pulled the arm, snapping it out of it's socket. The Alien screamed, and Hargreave knelt down, removing the Alien's helmet and placing his m1911 right against his forehead, the Alien's eyes were glazed over and it was incoherently mumbling before Hargreave pulled the trigger.

The Alien's brains splattered against forest floor, but the gun fire was attracting a few of the nearby alien squads. Hargreave picked up the alien assault rifle and took aim. 6 aliens were making their way over to him. He raised the gun and fired. Compared to his m4 carbine, the bullets were far better at penetrating the energy shields, dropping them with ease. The aliens took cover and began to lay down suppressing fire on his position. Hargreave sheathed his pistol and moved the strap so he could hold the m4 carbine in his left hand, the alien assault rifle in his right.

He counted to three amidst the hail of gunfire tearing through the tree and narrowly missing him and stood up. He pulled the trigger on both guns and held it down. A hail of bullets and mass accelerated rounds screamed through both guns. The Aliens ducked and Hargreave moved over to another tree, taking cover just as his carbine ran out of rounds and his alien gun overheated.

For about two seconds neither opponents fired, but the Aliens realised what had happened and began firing at his previous position. Hargreave saw an object fly through the air and rolled as far away from the grenade as possible. The Incendiary explosive incinerated the log he was previous taking cover behind entirely and set fire to a few trees in the vicinity.

Hargreave held the alien rifle in both hands, and counted to four. He ran further away from the Aliens and jumped over another fallen tree about 6m away, taking cover. He knelt behind it and placed the gun atop the log before opening fire on the two alien squads, firing in short controlled bursts.

Two Aliens fell to his gunfire, and as one stood up and armed a grenade Hargreave felt the ground shake as the alien's torso effectively disappeared. Hargreave glanced up at Karrin sniping before the grenade went off, killing two more Aliens. The last one began to run back, but Hargreave aimed at his head whilst tracking him for a few seconds and unleashed three three round bursts into his skull. He fell to the floor, skidding along from the kinetic force of the gun fire.

Hargreave risked a smile.

Then he saw something terrifying. The Aliens were running back, far away from the building, and seven of the circular drones hovered above the treeline, and began to open fire on the house, closing in as they did so. Hargreave sprinted as fast as he could, watching Karrin fall to the gunfire and the bullets tearing through the third floor of the building. Hargreave held down the trigger whilst aiming at the drone, but the bullets just slammed against the energy shields. The drone turned it's attention to Hargreave as the gun over heated. Hargreave dropped it and switched to his pistol, defiantly firing his entire magazine at it to no avail.

He looked at his pistol and sheathed it, holding his two fists up in defiance, daring the drone to kill him.

The gun on the drone began to fire when the drone exploded. Hargreave's eyebrows rose. The other drones raised their guns to something outside of his site but each was given a guided missile and they fell.

Hargreave heard a sonic boom and watched as a Lockhead-Martin F-99XG gauss Warp fighter flew over head.

Hargreave watched as the people inside the building looked through the windows and cheered. Another ship, a Condor class warp transport, hovered above the clearing. Hargreave watched as it landed in front of him. A squad of marines disembarked and the agent Hargreave met a week ago stepped out of the transport.

"Mr Hargreave." She said. Hargreave wiped his forehead and smiled whilst gritting his teeth.

"Agent." Said Hargreave.

"Secure the perimeter!" She ordered to the marines. She returned her attention to Hargreave.

"The Stormfront has been lost. We've orders to get you and Grahm out. Is he still alive."

Hargreave barely had the time to process the news that the alien fleet had taken out a super carrier and it's escourt wing before replying.

"Last I checked. As is lieutenant Shepard." He replied.

The Agent nodded.

"Secure Shepard and the Primary objective." She ordered. The marines nodded and made their way into the utterly ravaged house.

"These people need immediate evac, some of them have are mortally injured and will not survive without medical attention." Said Hargreave.

"This is the last ride out of Kepler 138. There are no other ships. I'm sorry, but their on their own." Said the agent.

Hargreave swore under his breath but kept a cool facade.

"Can you hand them your guns and ammunition then? They are going to need it more then you." Asked Hargreave.

"Ill think about it. We've got reports of a tank column making their way here so we have to be fast. Get aboard Hargreave, that's an order."

Hargreave nodded and tiredly climbed aboard the military transport, wiping his forehead before placing the straps down on his seat. As he saw the marines, without guns on them, with Shepard and Grahm, Hargreave smiled and closed his eyes, getting some well deserved rest.

* * *

 _ **One week later  
Epsilon Eridani Naval Ship cruiser class "EENS Malachite"**_

Hargreave pulled back on his m1911 slide, checking down the barrel of the gun. It clicked back into place and he ejected his magazine and rechecked it. He loaded the empty magazine back into the gun.

"Mr Hargreave. Agent Cassandra will speak with you now." Said a marine. Hargreave nodded and stood up from leaning against the wall in the centrifugal arm of the ship. Hargreave walked into the agent's office.

"You know, I came fairly close to executing two weeks ago. You could've told me you were an active member of SOIG." She said, leaning back into her chair.

"SOIG doesn't really work like that. We are active until told otherwise, I simply had no active mission, simple observation of the boonies of human space." Said Hargreave.

Hargreave was dressed in a non-Newtonian stealth suit. Designed to mask thermal emissions, maintain the human body and harden upon impact.  
It was matte black, with a bdu for carrying magazines and a water canteen and some small supplies.

"Well you've got one now. What little technological data we managed to gleam from the ship you brought in suggests their energy shields only works on items with sufficient mass. We need a directed energy weapon to pierce them."

"We've never been able to succesfully replicate any sort of laser weapon for space craft. Ships have enough problems with heat venting already." Said Hargreave.

The agent nodded.

"Aye. And yet, here we are. Dr Yamatame is a Japanese born scientist who was working on a spaceship mounted directed energy weapon for Lockhad-Martin. He dropped off the grid two years ago. We've found him."

"Must be somewhere harsh if you're asking me to go." Said Hargreave crossing his arms.

She sat up straighter in her chair.

"Yellowstone, in Kepler 45." She said.

Hargreave's eyebrows raised and he flinched. Yellowstone was previously a pristine gardenworld named Cittagaze. But ten years ago a super volcano on the planet erupted, killing off almost all plant life and forcing those that could pay to get off world to flee. The rest were left behind to eek out an existence in the ashen wastes. It was a planet where it never got any brighter than twilight, ash storms ravaged the place, as did thunder storms and terrifying radioactive black rain. It was the worst planet technically inhabitable that humanity had ever encountered.

Hargreave had been once before, and he swore never again.  
"We need this Hargreave. Another system fell to the Keplarians yesterday. We can't win in a conventional fight with them. All we can do is run faster than them. We need to change the tide. Grahm is doing everything he can to decipher some technological schematics on their shielding tech, but we need a weapon that can break them."

Hargreave sighed.

"Fine. When do I leave?" Asked Hargreave.

"Tomorrow. 04:00 ship time. Back whatever you think you'll need. We've got a corvette ready to carry you and a small team there. This is a deniable operation. Do whatever it takes to get Dr Yamatame back alive."

Hargreave nodded. His first active mission in a decade and he was returning to the place that made he step back from active duty. Great.

* * *

 ** _Codex:_**

 ** _Non-Newtonian fluid_**

A compound which immediately hardens when acted upon with enough force. Used in extremely expensive, light weight body armour.

 _ **Current FTL speeds**_

The current fastest vessel created by humans is the Voyager 5 probe, which can travel at a max speed of 23 ly/day. The average for civilian or military vessels is ten ly/day, whilst probes built for communication are slightly faster.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Alcubierre**_

 _ **Chapter five: That haunts us**_

"You're a bit overdressed aren't you?" Asked Shepard.

Hargreave had thrown the poncho on over his armour and was applying the head scarf to cover the rest of his face bar his goggles. His dosimeter was visible on his left pectoral and he rechecked his Single army action. He had a headset and throat mic. The amount of dust would limit high tech weaponry, and Hargreave stuck with the most basic weapons possible. A Single action army revolver, a wood finish m16 circa Africa 2046 and a combat knife strapped to his left shoulder. Shepard clearly didn't get the memo, going in full exosuit, with an advanced mattock assault rifle and nano forge monomolecular knife.

They at least weren't emblazoned with any flags or identifying marks.

"Winds on Yellowstone can reach hundreds of kilometres per hour. The temperature can vary from -20 to 50c depending on the time of day, location and dust clouds. Radiation caused by both damaged nuclear power plants, natural causes and solar radiation can cause tumours to develop in less then 46 hours. Dust particles in the air will damage most complicated machinery, and there is little to no fresh water on the planet untainted." Said Hargreave, rattling off what he learnt in the two months after the Volcano's eruption.

Shepard stayed quiet for a few seconds, before beginning to remove her power armour.

"There's another M16 in my locker, it's modified to us 12.9mm, same as your Mattock." Said Hargreave.

"Thanks." She said, unclipping the servo mounts and floating out of the exosuit.

"I know Cittagaze like a local, trust my intel." Said Hargreave simply.

"So, you know where Dr Yamatame is then?" Asked Shepard sarcastically, opening Hargreave's locker and grabbing the m16 inside.

"No more then you do. Near New Oxford, which is a shame, cause that city was pretty close to ground zero of the eruption. Only a few hundred kilometres." Said Hargreave.

"Well, it's another hour to we reach the system, and another hour after that till planetfall. Wanna play cards or..." Said Shepard.

"Why did you accept this mission. You could've been sent back to the front lines against the... Keplarians? Is that what we are calling them now? Got to be better then skulking around hell on earth." Said Hargreave.

She scratched her head.

"I... Those things we fought. Those corpses... And even the aliens themselves. They scare me far more then just some inhospitable planet." Said Shepard.

Hargreave laughed.

"I'd take on a battalion of them if it meant not coming back here." Said Hargreave honestly.

"You keep mentioning that. Coming back here, being here before. Why were you here?" Asked Shepard.

"Classified. Way above your clearance." Said Hargreave bluntly.

"I'm helping you now, hell, they are practically making me a SOIG operative. You can tell me." She said.

"No I can't. It's level Seraphic clearance." Said Hargreave.

Shepard whistled.

"Holy shit. I didn't know any clearance level really existed above cherub." She said.

"Don't ask about it. It's that way for a reason." Said Hargreave. He fiddled with his Single action army.

For a few moments neither of them said anything, Hargreave content to simply fiddle with his revolver, Shepard squinting and trying to size Arthur up.

"What about your past then. I mean, you're the grandson of the John Hargreaves. What's he like." She asked, a sense of wonder barely hidden in her voice.

Under his face scarf, Hargreave smiled.

"Granddad is a bit bitter nowadays. Really hates the whole hero worshipping thing going on on Epsilon Eridani. Never quite got over the fact my dad and my brother went into business rather then exploring the universe. But, Grandad's been living off his name for the last forty years and will keep doing so until he dies sometimes next century or whenever." Said Hargreave. "He was pretty proud when I told him I was working for Trailblazer."

"You ever tell him you were SOIG?" Asked Shepard.

"Not till after I stepped down from official active duty. Dad knew. My brother just thought I was off gallivanting around the galaxy making a nuisance of myself and occasionally asking him for a loan." Said Hargreave with a wry smile. "What about you. I mean, you related to Alan Shepard?

"No. I always get asked that. I'm from Tau Ceti, not Epsilon Eridani." She said. "I dunno. I was born into a marine family stretching back to the US and Earth. Always knew I'd sign up."

"I was one of the first humans born and bred solely on Epsilon Eridani. My Granddad had finished shipping people to and from Earth at that point, but yeah. I came from a rich family, so I was one of the first to get the Telomere project nanites."

"How old are you? It's always so hard to tell. A poor guy out in the ass end of space at 30 can look the same as a inner system 50 year old." Said Shepard.

"Yeah, I'm 43." Hargreave replied. "23 biologically."

"Fuck... I'm only 29." She replied. "You actually look a bit old for your biological age."

"Yeah. I'll probably go grey by the time I'm 140. Which, you know, is a weird thing to complain about." Said Hargreave grinning.

"God damn, that project really made it hard to discuss age. I mean, you should be early middle age now, you served for one, sorry, two decades in the military and you still have about 100 years until you even have to think about being too old for service. That's fucked up." Said Shepard.

"Imagine how crazy big the human population is going to get. I mean, Sol and the inner colonies are starting to encourage or enforce one child policies but soon it might be one child per 50 years just to stop us running out of room for people. I mean, universities like Oxford, Cambridge, MIT or Freedom's Reach are now entire cities unto themselves. It's crazy." Said Hargreave.

"You ever read those conspiracy sites that say the governments of the galaxy are going to spike the water with sterilisation chemicals just to stop a population explosion?" Said Shepard.

"It's not that bad an idea. I mean, we gained 10x the amount of humans in 4 decades, and that's only going to get worse." Said Hargreave. "There aren't that many garden worlds, and we finally learnt we've got neighbours to compete with."

"It's certainly going to be an interesting century." Said Shepard.

"That's if we survive this war. You ready? I stress again, this planet is lethal. Anyone still there is either nuts, ruthless, or after something or someone hiding there. We can not take any second chances." Hargreave stressed.

"Ready as I'll ever be." she said.

Hargreave nodded and floated over to the cockpit, ready to plot the landing on to the planet's surface.

* * *

The ship Hargreave finished ordering the ship to return to geostationary orbit until he order it to land. Leaving it planetside was asking for it to be stolen.

And So, he looked over a sand dune, across an ashen dying wasteland and a husk of a city to a dust covered sun barely perpetuating a dull twilight.

The wind, if he had to guess, was about 40km an hour.

"Your mic working?" Hargreave heard in his ear.

He stayed silent for a few seconds, starring across the ashen wastes in mourning.

"Yeah, It should be." He replied.

"All right. I'm not getting to high a rad count here. How far are we from the old city?" Asked Shepard.

"Five clicks. Reactor should be shut down fairly safely, but just to be sure, check you dosimeter constantly. The reactor itself is far on the other side of the city. He won't be there unless he's crazy. It's easy enough to hide on this planet without risking killing yourself." Said Hargreave.

"After you then." She said.

Hargreave let go of his gun, letting it fall by his side, kept to him by a strap, and began to slide down the ash dune.

He reached the bottom and held his m16 with both hands, scanning the area whilst Shepard followed suit. Once she reached the bottom of the dune, she started to scan with her weapon, and Hargreave drew some binoculars and scanned the horizon.

He could see the twisted metal husks of what had once been buildings, but not glares or signs of life.

He placed the Binoculars back at his waist and walked forward, his rifle in hand but aimed down. Shepard soon followed suit.

"Could be days before we find him, if at all." said Hargreave simply. "If your dosimeter goes above safe level, let me know, we'll evac and call back the ship." Said Hargreave.

"You sure we can abandon our mission like that?" Asked Shepard.

"I never said I'd be on that ship." Said Hargreave bluntly.

Shepard stared at Hargreave as he turned away from her, keeping his gun in both hands, scanning the horizon and walking towards the ruins of Oxford.

"Arthur... What happened here?" She asked again.

"Like I said Lieutenant. Classified." Hargreave replied.

* * *

The sun began to set, and they were still combing the ruins of the city. Their dosimeters every so slightly ticking away, a constant reminder of their danger. The two of them were walking through one the neighbourhood streets, their guns fallen to their straps, houses on either side. Shepard was glancing at her wrist watch whilst Hargreave wiped some dust from his goggles.

"We need to find shelter. Nights on Yellowstone are terribly cold. One of these buildings should have a basement." Hargreave said simply. "If we don't find any sign of life tomorrow, we're heading closer to the reactor site."

Shepard gulped but nodded.  
"You are more then able to return to the ship." Said Hargreave.

"If you go there I go there. We need to find Dr Yamatame."

"Yes. We do." Hargreave replied, nodding.  
The two ducked into a basement of a house. Hargreave set up a light on a dust covered table whilst Shepard opened a MRE and tore into it.

The two of them slumped against a wall of the basement and looked across the room. An dust and cobwebb covered tricycle sat in the room.

"In Svalbard, about 200 km to the east, you can see the last moments of everyone on the planet. Their corpses covered in volcanic ash." Said Hargreave, starring into the light. "None of them had any time."

Hargreave removed his ash covered headwrap and took off his goggles, and ran a hand through his sandy blond hair.

His eyes were distant, starring unbroken, the cerulean orbs almost unwavering in their guard of the sole light source.

He turned to Shepard.

"We should be relatively safe here. My Dosimeter has mostly stopped beeping, and my geigar counter isn't picking up any more then average." Said Hargreave.

Shepard nodded and removed her own face scarf, shaking her hair of collected dust.

Hargreave studied her as she did so, her red shortly cropped hair, her green eyes, the small scar from her left chin reaching the centre of her left cheek. The small unbroken nose.

"We'll sleep till first light. I know a place about forty clicks from here where there's an underground river untainted by radiation, anyone left on this planet will be there or other similar places, and we can ask around." Hargreave explained.

"You sure know a lot about this planet." Shepard remarked.

"I survived here for four months after the Volcanic eruption. I should do." He replied.

"Four months? That must've been... Interesting."

Hargreave blinked.

He removed his glove on his left hand and clenched the fist for 3 seconds, activating his holopalm.

"I've got some Star Trek episodes on here, a bunch of porn, some "Space's funniest home videos" and some episodes of Period dramas." Hargreave explained.

"Period dramas? You don't seem the type." Said Shepard with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"I love Pride and Prejudice." Said Hargreave with a smile.

"Not talking about this place then?" Asked Shepard.

Hargreave didn't respond.

* * *

When first dawn broke, at 09:00 hours, the two of them left the basement and began to make their way east, towards the reactor site.  
The streets were covered in ash and dust, the dull sun barely lighting up the street.

Shepard heard something over the wind and dragged herself and Hargreave to a crouching position and they turned off their flashlight.

After a minute, a dune buggy drove into the street.  
To their annoyance, two figures got out of the all terrain technical, one staying on the gun.

Hargreave and Shepard nodded at each other and aimed their rifles at the group, Shepard on the one who stepped out of the driver car, Hargreave on the guy remaining on the gun. They would switch to the other one after they fired the shots.

Hargreave closed one eye and focused down the iron sights, Aiming at the gunner he waited.  
The gunner looked towards them. Not willing to wait, Hargreave fired on into his right arm.

The gunner fell off the back of the Buggy whilst Shepard fired again, killing the passenger.  
Hargreave dropped the rifle and drew his revolver in less than a moment, fanning the hammer and firing round after round into the driver.

He twirled the gun around his finger after firing all six shots, walking calmly towards the dying gunner. He stepped over the crawling passenger, Shepard finishing him off with a bullet to the skull. He walked around the buggy and squatted next to the injured gunner.

"Damn Haven bastards!" The gunner shouted.  
Hargreave paused.

"Haven?" he asked.

The gunner spat at his face.  
Wiping the saliva from his face mask, he loaded a single bullet into the revolver. He didn't pull on the hammer, but still placed the gun against the gunner's head.

"What is Haven. I might let the radiation kill you if you tell me. Else I'll put one in your liver." Growled Arthur.

Shepard flinched. This man seemed different to the admitted well trained explorer she meet weeks ago.

"Are you stupid? Everyone on the continent knows about Haven." Whimpered out the gunner.

Hargreave sighed and aimed the gun lower, pulled on the hammer and fired a bullet, tearing off the man's left big toe.  
He screamed and cried, and Hargreave calmly loaded another bullet, pulled on the hammer and placed the revolver right against the man's liver.

"What is Haven." Hargreave simply asked.

"Son of a... Aww."

Hargreave took his finger off the trigger guard and onto the trigger.

"50km away! Safe place! Ran by some Scientist lady, they've got geothermal power and a water purifier and everything! Damn bastards won't let anyone in though!" screamed out the dying man. "Only scientists or farmers."

"What direction." Stated Hargreave, no expression on his face.

"East! At the foot of the Lyra mountains!" Shouted out the injured man. "at a cave entrance, they've got a entrance guarded by auto turrets."

"Thank you." said Hargreave. He moved the gun to the man's neck and fired.  
The injured man gurgled and writhed on the floor as Hargreave carefully wiped his hands of dust and blood and walked over him towards the vehicle.  
Shepard stared at Hargreave gob smacked at his brutality.

"We have a possible location. Let's make our way there." said Hargeave blankly.

* * *

The ride in the buggy was in almost complete silence as the twilight sun began to set. They had a lot of ground to cover, with the only directions being that this "Haven" was at the foot of the Lyra mountains and only 50km from New Oxford. They were about 48km from New Oxford, and 2km from the nearest point of the Lyra mountains.

"Hargreave." Shepard said, breaking the tense silence. "What the hell was that."

"The people left on this planet still alive after a decade will not be good people." Said Hargreave, blankly.

"That's bull shit. You're covering potentially thousands of people as if all of them were..." She began.

"On the first week following Yellowstone's eruption, I watched a man kill a child for the water she was carrying. She couldn't have been more than... 12 years old. He shot her in the liver and rifled through her things without a care in the world." Said Hargreave. "Within two weeks, I saw my first act of cannibalism. Four, I saw an ash covered women scream for hours. Just... Sceaming non stop. She screamed and stood completely stock still in the middle of a dried up riverbed. She still stood there when the black rain fell."

"This planet... This... place. I carry it with me wherever I go. I am as much stuck here as any of the people left on it are. I... did..."

Hargreave stayed silent for almost a minute, starring dead ahead of him as he looked towards the looming mountains.

"Sepharic level classified." He said, more of a mantra then a logical statement.

"Hargreave." Said Shepard pointedly. "What was your mission here a decade ago?"

Hargreave finally turned to her, sighed, then returned to looking where he was driving.

* * *

 _Ten years ago, the Episilon Eridani Military,_ _in conjecture with the geological survey board of Freedom's Reach, had developed a weapon._

 _Earth is a hot bed of potential volcanic activity. Hell, Yellowstone on Earth has been long due to erupt for years. Epsilon Erididani was threatened by Earth's increasing military activities beyond the Oort cloud. Earth had stopped being isolationist, and was setting up satellite colonies at the edge of human space that it had agreed to protect with it's military should anything attack them. Hell, just a year before, a Earth spy had been caught attempting to poison the minister of defence for Freedom's Reach._

 _Epsilon didn't want to rely on the other's in the alliance, who had motives of their own, for it's defence. It needed to have first strike capabilities and a weapon that could scare Earth into not attack._  
 _The Earth-Lunar orbit defence grid meant that simply dropping an asteroid onto a planet would fail. A relativistic missile would start an inescapable arm's race that could very well wipe out all life in the galaxy. Nukes weren't effective enough, and every still follows the nuclear weapons in space accord._

 _But setting off a supervolcano and making Earth uninhabitable for potentially thousands of years, whilst making it look like a natural disaster?_

 _The ability to cause ground quakes had been worked out 7 years earlier, but setting off a mostly inactive volcano was a whole different kettle of fish. Various volcanoes across the travelled universe, mostly on atmosphere-less planets, were tested on._

 _Setting off a nuke alone doesn't work. So the scientists devised a different method. I don't know the exact details, and everything on project "Footprints of Titans" are classified Sepharic, but it involves causing several artifical earthquakes via nuclear or antimatter explosions across the planet potentially weeks before, then blowing the top of the volcano via several nuclear explosions._

 _In total, it was estimated that roughly 20 20 megaton nuclear weapons would be needed to both disrupt the Tectonic plates and blow the top of Earth's Yellowstone. But they needed proof. Most supervolcanoes known in the galaxy were rejected outright. Mount Olympus for it's proximity to Earth, Mount Attenborough in Ingles 1098 was deep in politically dangerous territory, seeing as it was owned by the Procyon's government._

 _But there was one left. Mount Asriel, on the planet of Cittagaze. I was tasked with illegally obtaining twenty nuclear warheads and delivering them covertly to the planet. I was also hired for security and, should anyone talk about the project, I was ordered to hunt them down and execute them, and anyone they may have informed._

 _I was on the planet when the nukes were set off, and when they used whatever the hell that device was. I was given a secondary set of orders, observe the surviving population and see how they would react without aid or disaster relief._

 _Epsilon Eridani had purposefully doomed 14 million people to die so they could test a weapon they'd never use. They destroyed one of the galaxies rare garden worlds that could support human life and lord knows what the terrorist groups I bought the nukes from did with the money I gave them._

 _I was on a "Oil Rig" in the Iorek sea about 60km from the Svalbardian coast when they set off the volcano. I watched those black, radioactive clouds approach like a wave._

 _Most of the radiation on the planet is from the natural radiation of the rocks spat out from the Earth's crust, and the depleted ozone layer. But some of it, particularily far away from Mount Asriel, is from the nuclear detonations I am responsible for._

 _I carried out my orders. I watched as total anarchy descended upon the planet. As no help arrived, no evacuation ships, nothing. Those that could afford it fled on starships, but they never sent any back._

 _They never knew. The nuclear detonations were simply thought to be earth quakes in a prelude to the volcanic eruption. No one will ever learn the truth. Eventually the scientists were either killed or paid enough to stay silent for the rest of their lives._

 _When I finally got off world after four months I swore I would never take part in a operation like that again. I joined up with Trailblazer and retired from active duty._

* * *

"No one knows what I did. Not Grahm, not my family, no one." Said Hargreave. "The only real proof is those few scientists still alive and the fact I'm sterile. Turns out handling 20 nukes and being on a radioactive dustball isn't good for you."

Shepard starred gobsmacked at him, whilst he calmly kept looking ahead, driving.

"You... Epsilon..."

"Rest assured Shepard, Tau Ceti, Sol, Procyon have done similar acts. And if anyone knew you knew about this particular dark stain, there is nothing they wouldn't do to keep you silent." Said Hargreave. "My actions are ultimately my own. Few other SOIG operatives had the contacts I did, few other operatives would've been able to get 20 nuclear warheads, nevermind if they would've dared or wanted to. I am responsible for this place far more then the government that ultimately shut the project down."

Shepard honestly had no idea what to say. Comfort him, tell him it wasn't his fault? Condemn him for the murder of at least 13 million people?

Hargreave looked to his right and got his binoculars out, noticing something. He slowed the car down to a stop.

"Got it. Bunch of auto sentries guarding a cave entrance about 3km away." Said Hargreave. "Get ready Shepard."

And with that, he revved up, spinning the wheels in the ash before speeding towards the cave entrance, barely giving her time to think.

* * *

Hargreave skidded the buggy to a stop and climbed out, removing his face mask and goggles as he did so.

"Halt!" He heard. Hargreave squinted to see and armed man with a microphone shouting at him. "State your name, objective and occupation. Fail to do so and we will fire at you. We have a directional microphone, we can hear you fine from there. Do not move any closer."

"I am Dr Karl Urnst. Floral bioengineer specialising in solar PV planet-life for generating electricity. I seek shelter." Said Hargreave.

"Uh huh. And the women."

"Lieutenant Hannah Shepard. My bodyguard. She broke me out of prison on Tau Ceti." Said Hargreave.

Hargreave noticed Shepard standing beside him looking both confused and pissed at the deception.

"One moment please."

For almost a minute Hargreave and Shepard stood still, waiting for them to either clear them for entry or kill them. To say they were a little tense was a lie.

After two minutes, the autosentries began to spin up and four laser points aimed solely at Hargreave's chest.

"Don't shoot." Said Hargreave, throwing his hands behind his head.

"You are not "Dr Karl Urnst" or any other scientist. You are SOIG Operative Captain Arthur James Hargreave of Epsilon Eridani. Why are you here!" Hargreave heard a female voice, different from the first, shouting through the microphone.

He blinked. How could they know? It's not like theirs internet here or some kind of information leak that meant they knew the identity of SOIG operatives. Unless...

"I... I seek to come back Dr." Said Hargreave bluntly.

He was playing a big gamble.

"... Let them in. Remove their weapons." The female voice said. "the Woman is free to wonder, but I will talk to you, Hargreave, alone."

The Laser dots were moved from Hargreave's chest and the autosentries stopped spinning up. Four soldiers walked towards them, their guns drawn. Hargreave and Shepard removed their weapons, both of them keeping a small pistol on them, and handed them over to the soldiers as they walked over.

They were escorted to the enormous mouth of the cave, and towards a reinforced steel door, similar to a bank vault. Hargreave looked to the guard cabin and saw three guards, and one woman with a jumpsuit on. Hargreave recognised her almost instantly.

"Lieutenant Shepard, take the elevator inside to the second floor. Hargreave will join you shortly after." She said. Shepard looked to Hargreave, then nodded. The massive steel door moved aside, showing a single massive 6m by 6m by 6m elevator. Shepard walked on, escorted by the same four soldiers, and they lift descended.

"Didn't think I'd see you again." Said the woman Hargreave was standing beside.

"I thought for sure EEIS* would've killed you." Said Hargreave.

"They tried. Never thought I'd come back to the scene of the crime I commited." She said.

"So that's why you are here? Some attempt at redemption?" Asked Hargreave.

"Isn't that why you're here?" She asked.

The lift re arrived, and the two of them, unescorted, climbed on it. She pressed a button and the lift descended.

"You know that isn't. It ain't like me." Said Hargreave.

She laughed.

"Always a good liar Hargreave. Smart thinking out there with the "Dr Urnst." We would've let you in if I didn't know you."

"What, you scan the entrance hall for in case one of the your fellow "footprinters" comes here."

"Like all criminals, we may well eventually return to the scene of the crime." She replied.

Finally the lift stopped, Hargreave estimated at the 20th floor below ground level, and they got off the elevator. They began to walk down a metallic hallway, the odd armed soldier or jumpsuit wearer walking past them.

"They built this place about 4 years before the eruption in case of Meteoritic or Relativistic bombardment. Never actually had time to get there. A bunch of us reactivated it about 8 years ago and started a safe place for those few left on the surface not driven to bloodlust." she explained.

The two of them entered what Hargreave assumed was an office.

"So. Are you here to kill me?" she asked. "Let me just get my files."

"Voice recognition required." Her computer said upon hearing her voice.

"Dr Cassandra Archer. I hold the world in my hands, and need only squeeze." She said plainly.

"Voice recognition accepted." The computer replied. Archer sat behind the computer looked pointedly at Hargreave.

"You know that's what DNA and biometric scanners are for."

"Not as poetic." she replied with a smile. "But seriously, If you are here to be my executioner, please get it other with. I'm sure you smuggled that damnable m1911 you always carry, or you could just snap my neck as you are occasionally fond of."

Hargreave moved and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk, facing Cassandra.

"You look remarkably good for a 40 year old hanging out on this dustball." Said Hargreave, looking at her platinum blond hair done up in a simple bun, her steel blue eyes starring intently at him, her small pale lips only slightly quivering at the possibility of being killed.

"And you, for a 43 year old career soldier who spends his time pretending to be a dirty terrorist, could look better. Age is catching up with you even with the telomere project. You'll be grey by one hundred." She said.

"Maybe so. I still at least have a youthful face." Said Hargreave with a wry smile.

"I'm not here to kill you, or anyone else here." He said.

She sighed visibly with relief.

"That's good news. I almost primed the radiation bomb I have under my desk." She said.

"I might be lying. And that's a dirty way to kill Dr."

"You wouldn't have gone all this way to kill me If you knew I was here. You'd just bombard this place from orbit for however many days until this mountain is a new sea." She said. "So why are you here.

"Well. That's an interesting story."

* * *

"Aliens?" She asked, amazed.

"Actual honest to god Aliens. We need him." Said Hargreave.

"Dr Yamatame? What makes you think he's here?" Asked Archer, leaning forward.

"Where else would a weedy scientist go? We know he's on this planet, this would be the only real destintion." Hargreave said.

"There's rumours of another underground facility on the far eastern continent." Said Archer.

"Is he here or not? The fate of the galaxy depends on it." Said Hargreave.

Archer thought over this for a few seconds.

"We'll hand him over on one condition." Said Archer.

"Go on." Said Hargreave, leaning back into his chair.

"Epsilon Eridani sends support. Air purifiers, water purifiers, a military peacekeeping force, regular shipments of food and water. Nanoforges. Everything a colony needs."

Hargreave looked confused.

"Why?"

"Hargreave. I'm sure you think this planet is a lost cause, but it's important to us. To me. We made it this way. We have to at least try and help those that are left."

"What we did is irrelevant. This planet is a radioactive ashen hellhole. Why set up a colony? Why go to all the trouble? Just ship the survivors off world? We can't divert valuable soldiers in the middle of war time." Said Hargreave bluntly.

"We... What we did goes beyond the people we killed. We are the first people in history to render a planet utterly uninhabitable. That will follow us to the grave, however long that takes. When people learn about us, and believe me, one day they will, we have to have tried to undo our mistake. We can't just be like you and cover it up with two words as if they mean something." Said Archer.

"... Archer. We need Dr Yamatame. If the aliens win then it doesn't matter what sins we'd committed a decade ago." Said Hargreave.

"Someone else can developed starship level chemical weapons. But we cannot undo our mistake without Epsilon Eridani." Said Archer. "I will remain on this planet, here, until we can undo what we did. And so will Dr Yamatame, unless you agree to our demands."

"What's stopping them from sending in a crack team and just breaking in, killing all of you and grabbing him?" Asked Hargreave.

Archer smiled.

"If I die, and Dr Franklin doesn't submit the proper cessation codes, a signal will be sent the 10ly gap to the next nearest inhabited system. 10 years after my death, everything I had written about project Footprint of Titans will be on their local internet, and from there it will spread like wildfire across human space. Everyone will know what they did and nothing will stop the signal." Said Archer.

Hargreave laughed.

"Nice. I think they might risk destroying Orion's bow, but a good threat." Said Hargreave.

He thought it over for a few minutes.

"I promise I'll try. They'll never admit why they are sending aid, but I'll damn well try."

The two of them stood up, and Hargreave turned to walk out of the office, when Archer placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I know... I know you think you don't really care about this place. But it's a burden on all of us. Maybe you can atone out there in the big wide galaxy better then any of us could, but if you think you need to come back here, we'll always welcome you amongst the damned."

Hargreave turned to face her, and said nothing. He slowly took her hand off his shoulder.

* * *

Six hours later, they were safely in warp, heading far away from that hellscape.

Shepard and Hargreave were sat in the pilot seats whilst Dr Yamatame slept behind them. He came with them without much fuss, seeing as he was getting a full pardon and was putting his weapon technology to use in saving humanity. He wasn't devoted to the Yellowstone cause at all, and spending two years eating reconstituted meals had given him plenty of incentive to return to civilised space.

"Hargreave. Just how much terrible stuff do SOIG operatives have to do?" Asked Shepard.

"The military makes us sound like heroes, travelling across the galaxy alone, protecting Epsilon Eridani out of patriotism, only our training to aid us." Said Hargreave. "You know why I was selected for SOIG? When I was sixteen, I got in a fight with my parents and signed up with the marines to get offworld. I performed pretty well in training and had a lot of money in my bank account because of my family. They saw a rich recruit who wasn't as dumb as a bag of bricks and could hold his own in a fight. That's it."

"...That's it?"

"No patriotism, no great deed or heroic action. I was rich, so they made me do further training. I was activated on my twentieth birthday and spent most of my career buying shit the government couldn't be caught buying and killing pirates."

"... Fuck."

"Yeah."

The two of them sat in silence.

"Still, Shepard. You've proven yourself a worthy accomplice. We have an actual enemy this time. One that want's to hunt us down and turn us into those things we saw on Keplar 138b. So, don't be disheartened. Just don't bother becoming SOIG."

"I'll bare that in mind." she turned to face the sleeping Dr Yamatame then turned back to Hargreave.

"You know where they'll properly send you next."

Hargreave sighed.

"If I had to guess... Keplar 138b. Find out more intel on the Keplarians. They'll properly sign you up with another carrier and we'll never cross paths again." Said Hargreave.

She sighed.

"You worried about Grahm?" She asked.

"A little. Why?"

"You said those aliens had those implants in them. The same one he has in his head. Those same aliens were dumb, vicious, paranoid and... I don't know. Something he said.

"What did he say?" Asked Hargreave.

"Grahm said... One time, whilst I was escorting him to where we were interrgating the prisoners, he said."

 _"Get out of my head..."_

"That's it?" Asked Hargreave, interrupting her.

"That's not the worse bit." She said. "It's the thing he said next, and he said it like it was... like it was a word that would kill him if he said it, as if it was dangerous to even utter it. But he said it all the same, smacking his head afterwards. He said..."

 _"Reaper."_

* * *

 _ **EEIS**_

Epsilon Eridani intelligence Service. Blanket term for any extra Eridani intelligence gathering organisation or task force, including SOIG and other such black ops groups.  
 _ **  
Satellite colonies**_

Colonies loyal to other, more established colonies. Typically trading partners and have a lot of immigrants from their parent colony or system. The parent colony has a defensive pact with it's satellites, though the satellites are subject to the laws and taxes of it's parent.

Sol has 4, Epsilon Eridani has 7, Tau ceti has 3 and Procyon 4. A few other colonies have one satellite colonies, but most are independent. There is no large legislative or diplomatic body for humanity as a whole, the closest is the inner core alliance. There are roughly 49 colonised human planets with at least somewhat breathable atmosphere.

 _ **Hand held weapons**_

The vast majority of hand held projectile weapons are gunpowder based. Gunpower weapons have not evolved significantly since the late 20th century. Gauss weapons are the next most common place, the vast majority being anti material rifles or extremely heavy pistols. Fully automatic gauss weapons are similar to gatling guns with multiple barrels, since firing multiple rounds through the electomagnetic coils is difficult to time and time between rounds fired would be two slow. There are no handheld full auto gauss weapons. Railguns were made absolute after the production of gauss weapons, and only really saw use between 2029-2065.

Guns are typically chambered in higher calibers than in the early 21st century, though caseless bullets make up for the increase size of the round, keeping magazine sizes usable, though these require complicated internal mechanisms in the gun, which means a rifle with 30 rounds chambered in 12.6mm is much more expensive then one chambered in 5.56mm.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Alcubierre  
Chapter 6: The fall of Santiago**_

In the two weeks Hargreave was gone, the war had not gone well for humanity. Kepler 138b, Armstrong and Asgard had all fallen to the Keplerians. They were slowly heading galactic south, towards the inner core and Sol. They might have been slower then humanity, but they were winning every single ship to ship engagement. Humanity had no reserves of their strange "Element Zero" to reverse engineer their tech, most of the surviving Aliens from Grahms and Hargreave's stolen ship were dead, and on the ground the Aliens could use the corpses of the fallen to make shock troops.

It was only a matter of time until they kept pushing to far for humanity to push back.

The only course of action was clear. Head to the Relay they were sending their forces from and shut it down or destroy it.

The problem was, Sol had no intention in joining in the fight. Most of their satellite colonies were far to the galactic south, and they were still hoping for diplomacy, as well as being willing to wait to see if the aliens would cripple the inner core.

The inner core themselves had similar problems. The three main members still refused to fully mobilise. The lose of their supercarrier meant that Tau Ceti were more then willing to sit the rest of the war out. Epsilon Eridani and Procyon had relied on Tau Ceti to be the mediator between their own disputes. Without Tau, the two forces were unable to work together. Procyon kept the fleet at home, whilst Epsilon Eridani were far more interested in capturing individual pieces of Alien tech then fighting them.

The Border colonies didn't have the equipment or the manpower to fight off the three fleets of the Keplerians alone.

All in all, the Aliens could take their sweet time sweeping through the border colonies, gathering resources as they went and simply overrun the Inner Core Alliance and Sol.

It was this dire situation that Hargreave, Grahm and Shepard found themselves in.

The three of them were aboard the EENS Malachite.

"We need some way to drag the inner core into the war proper." Said Shepard.

"Or Earth." Said Grahm.

"If losing a couple of million people isn't going to do it it will take something massive to do so." Said Hargreave.

"Every Alien I've interrogated says that they are trying to wipe us out. Yet only Epsilon are doing something about it, and even they aren't really putting their back into it." Said Grahm.

Shepard sighed.  
"I suppose the problem is that we can just keeping throwing away people and colonies. Ain't like we are lacking for them." Said Shepard.

"Harsh. But yeah." Said Hargreave.

"What if... No. That's crazy" said Grahm.

"Hmm?" Asked both Shepard and Hargreave.

"Well, it's just... Earth has a satellite colony out here in the galactic north. Santiago. It's the closest to the, what, 3 independent colonies the Keplerians have captured at this point?" Asked Grahm.

"You want to find some way to drag them and purposefully put millions of lives on the line to drag Earth into the war?" Asked Shepard.

"He's got a point. If one of the superpowers doesn't do something soon we aren't going to have much chance to win." Said Hargreave. "But how the fuck are we going to drag the Aliens to there? It's, what? 23 ly from Asgard? They are slower than our ships."

"I know. But when we stole their ship they travelled 30 ly to try and get it back and destroyed Kepler 138b in the process. We just have to do that again." Said Grahm.

Hargreave and Shepard thought on this for a few seconds.

"It's not the craziest idea. High command would never agree to sending a ship into that much danger for potentially no reward." Said Hargreave.

"Do they have to? Shepard can pilot a fight, me and you can pilot a capital ship. We've captured a frigate before, we could do it again."

"That's crazy." Said Shepard.

"You're SOIG aren't you? And Shepard, you're the last Tau Ceti soldier still in this part of the Galaxy. They'll agree to at least a small strike team. All we have to do is get a ship." Said Grahm.

Hargreave ran a hand down his face.

"They'll just blast us out of the sky if we attack it head on. We have to be as we were aboard the Peqoud. Almost utterly destroyed." Said Hargreave.  
"Are you really thinking of going through with a plan as risky and batshit as that?" Asked Shepard.

"The alternative is we keep going on small raiding missions to capture the odd... what are those spikes being called?"

"Dragon's teeth" Grahm replied.

"Right, Dragon's teeth. I say we go for it. Worst comes to worst we are simply spaced." Said Hargreave with a shrug.

"There's no way High Command would agree to this."

* * *

 ** _Two days later  
ESNS Corvette Class "Dust in the Wind"  
En-route to the Altair 1248 system Colony "Asgard"_**

"All right, who's dick did you suck for this Grahm." Asked Shepard, as she put on her light body armour.

"Well, we have a secondary objective that high command had wanted to get done for months, but otherwise my mouth is clean." Said Grahm with a smile.

Hargreave was absent mindedly twirling his Single army Action round his index finger. The men and women who had signed up for this mission had been given simple orders. Get captured, take the ship to Santiago, don't be too heavily armed or armoured.

The plan was simple. Once they were in the system all but the upper four decks would be damaged via plastic explosives dotted around the ship, they'd get captured, they'd break out again and take the ship to Santiago. So many things could go wrong on this mission that high command had almost pulled Grahm and Hargeave from the mission, on account of needing a SOIG agent and the one man who could translate the Alien language. But then, they and Grahm had agreed to something that neither he or Shepard knew about and the mission was given the go ahead.

"Entering the system in 13 minutes. Are the men ready?" Asked Hargreave, still sat in the pilot seat starring at the mass of computer screens.

"Aye. Suited up and ready to look banged up and miserable." Said Shepard.

Hargreave nodded in response, before pressing a button on one of the computer keyboards.

The intercom spat into life as Hargreave began to speak.

"Ladies and Gentleman. As of now you are all independent mercenaries who got greedy and stupid enough to try and loot a system captured by the Keplerians. We are from Santiago. Our ship was damaged in a fight with the Alien's but we managed to overpower them and take the ship back home. The aliens have no idea of the Geneva convention or basic human rights. Do not expect an easy time once we are captured. We will have to all work together to capture the ship and bring it home. Grahm is our number one priority. Only he can give our demands. Protect him with your life." Said Hargreave. "Other then that, stay alive and good luck. Get ready, we have 10 minutes before go time."

Hargreave shut off the intercom and ran his hand down his face, still absent mindedly spinning his SAA round his finger.

He grabbed it by the grip and released the cylinder, loading each 6 .357 magnum round by hand, before putting the cylinder back into place, spinning the gun once more round and sheathing it inside his chest holster inside his shirt. He buttoned it up. He felt naked knowingly going into a combat situation without much armour, but being too well armed would only scare the aliens into killing him immediately.

The ship was mostly on autopilot at this point, so Hargreave undid the chair straps and floated out of the chair, pushing off a wall and floating down the length of the ship.

He saw on the marines giving a quick sermon to a few others, begging KEK for luck before using a random number generator until they got repeating integers, as is their religion.

He reached the deck with the still active negative mass warp drive and activated his mag boots, securing him to the wall.

He stared into the strange device, safely behind foot thick plexiglass and inch thick lead.  
Looking up at the c4 dotted around the ship, he sighed. Negative mass may have been a lot cheaper than it was in his grandfather's day, but it was a heck of a waste to purposefully destroy a warp drive. His brother would kill him, as would his grandfather and pop for that matter, for wasting a perfectly decent FTL drive.

He took the detonator out of his pocket and span it around out of habit.

* * *

They dropped out of warp in system. They light speed lag meant they had no real idea whether there were any ships around unless they looked out of a window, LADAR was useless until it traveled far enough to pick up something. They had dropped in about 300000km from the habitable planet Asgard. It shouldn't take more than a second or two...

"Detecting thirty heat signatures, almost certainly ships." Shouted Shepard over the intercom. Hargreave crouched then jumped up through the hole in the floor to reach the top deck.

"All hands! Exit all decks below deck 7 immediately." She said again.

As Hargreave floated from deck 32 to deck 7, he breathed slowly, clenching his left fist and unclenching it over and over again. It was almost time.

He was the last to arrive on deck 7, pushing off the ladder in the middle then activating his mag boots to land against the interior wall.

"Detonating in 5! 4!..." Hargreave shouted.

"Contacts approaching!" shouted Shepard.

"1" Shouted Hargreave. He pressed the trigger down as the bulkhead to the lower decks slammed shut.

Explosions rocked the ship, carefully placed to not really harm the upper decks. The Warp core leaked radiation, the Centrifugal arms tore off the ship, dozens of major and minor hull breaches quickly ripped out the air and the top deck resorted to emergency power for lighting and life support.

Soon Hargreave was rattling out orders. Ingest small amounts of sedatives, hide your weapons, for gods sake look scared.

After making sure everyone else looked suitably injured, Hargreave ingested a small amount of sedatives to calm his nerves and make him just sluggish enough at a glance to be thought of as injured. Thank god this aliens were mentally ill.

As he almost closed his eyes, he wobbled the fake wisdom tooth he had installed almost two decades ago, which contained a micro explosive large enough to explode his head. Gory, terrifying and far more efficient than cyanide. He wasn't going to end up on the operating table like Grahm, or die slowly of asphyxiation if the alien's didn't fall for the bait.

After ten tense minutes Hargreave heard the tell tale noise of plasma cutters and looked away from the blinding light. Eventually, a circle large enough for two aliens to walk through was cut into the side of the Corvette and they came through, guns raised.

One of the women, a soldier named Helen, limply held up her gauss pistol to aim at one of the aliens, who simply tore it out of her hands. She almost smiled.

The aliens were at least taking prisoners then.

Hargreave's genetically and cybernetically modified body was beginning to counteract the effects of the sedative already. But still, he couldn't fight off the effects as more aliens walked into the upper deck and began to wordless drag off the men and women into their own ship.

Turns out their batshit plan was working. Now it was time for phase 2.

* * *

Once again, the fifteen of them found themselves in the brig of an alien frigate. Only four guns had been taken from them, 2 gauss pistols, Grahm's Glock autopistol and a 5.56mm revolver. Hargreave was going over the battle plan, careful to ensure Grahm didn't breath a word so as not to be heard and possibly understood by the aliens.

"All right. When a group of aliens arrive and open the cell, all of us will rush them. Do whatever you can to kill or incapacitate them. Weapons free, though keep them hidden for as long as you can. Once you do so, we'll use our micro-nanoforges to create monomolecular blades to cut this binds off of us. From there it's a straight assault on the bridge, vent the lower decks of atmosphere and drive this baby into Santiago." Hargreave explained, careful to keep his tone of voice scared to full the guard.

"Why would they open the cell?" asked one of the marines.

"Last time, they took Grahm and tried to take me to put implants into our minds." Said Hargreave.

"Right..." said the marine.

"Only 3 or 4 of them came, so eleven armed men should be able to take them on." Said Hargreave.

"We're ready." Said Shepard, flashing Hagreave a wry smile.

Hargreave nodded, sparing a glance to their twitchy guard.

They separated from their huddle, leaning against walls, many of them carefully placing their hands near their hidden guns as needed.

It took five minutes before the brig's door opened.

Fifteen heavily armed aliens marched in, each levelling a rifle directly at their heads.

Hargreave's eyes widened. This wasn't part of the plan.

A single, black coated alien walked into the brig. The Alien guard saluted him with his lower vestigal arms and moved aside. The other aliens, still aiming at each and every single one of them, moved aside as the main alien walked towards the cell, swiped a key card and opened the door.

He walked in, his main arms behind his back, glancing at each and everyone of them. His gaze fell on Grahm, who unlike the rest of them stared into his eyes back, before the Alien looked straight at Hargreave.

"Ogoirst vor." It said, pointing at Hargreave.

Hargreave moved to unsheath his gun, but the alien was quicker, grabbing his hands before he could reach into his shirt, then reaching in and throwing the gun out of the cell. Hargreave was thrown into the guards out of the cell and the alien calmly walked out of the cell, before the aliens forced Hargreave to his knees as the door locked behind him.

The black coated alien forced Hargreave's jaws opened and reached into his mouth, ripping out his microexplosive tooth before simply dropping it, blood getting onto it's hands.

Hargreave got a rifle butt to his stomach and was dragged out of brig, the human marines screaming behind him.

Only four alien marines followed Hargreave and the coated alien, the rest remained inside.

Hargreave tried to wiggle out of his capture to no avail. He was dragged into an elevator, and the black coated alien turned to glare at him, before turning back to the door as it closed.

Hargreave started to sweat. This wasn't good.

Soon the door was opened and Hargreave was dragged towards a small room on one of the lower decks of the ships. Hargreave's struggles continued to get more and more desperate. He knew this room for the last time he stole a Alien frigate. It was where Grahm had gotten his implant.

Hargreave was thrown onto a cold, flat table and straps were placed around his wrist and ankles, keeping his knees together and his arms perpendicular to his chest. A strap was then placed over his mouth, locking his head in place.

He tried to scream and shout to no avail. He could see the Coated alien nod to one of the jumpsuit wearing ones, and it pressed a button. Looking up, Hargreave saw what he recognised as an Alien version of an autosurgeon.

He looked towards a syringe, and started to sweet and twitch as it lowered towards his neck. He tried to move away, but the syringe dove into his neck, injecting what Hargreave simultaneously hoped and feared was sedative.

Hargeave's vision started to darken and he tried to fall back. Then, he was acutely aware he was given a poison resistance implant that would keep him awake if he was injected with anything but a certain nanite concotation designed to knock him out.

He was going to be 90% concious during the next few minutes.

Now his screams could be heard even through the gag as the machine whirred into life, its saw heading towards his right temple...

* * *

It took an hour. The actual surgery was minutes, but he had gone into shock long before it ended, and could only stare at the autosurgeon machine as it sealed the wound. He had one of those...Things in his head. At the very recesses of his mind, he heard a low noise, skittering and inconstant, but there.

The table began to fold and reorient itself so Hargreave was facing up. He could feel drool dripping down inside of the strap, too breathless to scream.  
The pain had started as excruciating. Luckily the brain has few pain receptors, so it was more pure terror as he watched an alien, unwanted object be placed inside his head and sloppily stitched up like a tear in a pair of jeans.

Tears were welling, unable to truly fall.

The coated Alien walked in front of him, and talked.

"You." It said.

Hargreave's eyes widened in terror. He understood that. A deep false sounding voice with the subtle sound of metallic whirring beneath in the front of his head.

"I recognise you. From the footage. You stole our frigate. Then, at that colony of yours." He said. He heard a dull metallic hum behind every word.

"You. Your kind. The other one is here too." It said. "He is almost fully understanding."

The mouth strap disengaged from Hargeace's mouth, and Hargreave drooled, unable to do much else.

"Do you understand me?" The Alien asked.

Hargreave couldn't speak. He couldn't...

The Alien slapped him right on the temple, and Hargreave never felt such excruciating pain, the noise in the back of his head deafening before silencing itself once more.

"I... Understand."

"What is your name."

"Captain Arthur Hargreave. Mercenary. Trailblazer corporation." Said Hargreave.

"Hargreave? What a fascinating name. I am Goarsah, of the near understood. Captain Goarsah of the enlightened." said the Alien.

Hargreave tried to focus, but his vision blurred for a second as the unintelligible sound in the back of his head rose to a roar and silence itself one more.

"We are going to return you to your masters. You will tell your species government our terms. Submit to us, give us your FTL technology, accept our understanding and hand over all resources. Else we will destroy them. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Said Hargreave. He squinted and focused through the pain. Species government? Did he actually believe humans had one government That was insane.

"Well then." The alien brought it's hand to Dr, ensure our patient here remains alive." Said Goarsah. "We will be coming after you. What is your species name?"

Hargreave blanched. The two sides were about to enter all out war and neither knew the other's true name, motives or true capabilities.

"Human."

"You shall fall, as so we all, when our harvesters come to ascend us all. Goodbye Hargreave." Said Goarsah, placing his primary hands behind his back and walking out of the room. As the door opened two marines walked in, guns drawn but not raised.

The straps around Hargreave's wrists and ankles let go, and Hargreave fell to the floor, too weak to stand.

The Aliens grabbed him and pulled him out of the room. Hargreave was once more thrown into the elevator. He stared glassy eyed ahead of himself.

A dull ringing at the back of his mind.

As he was marched back into the brig the doors opened, revealing a blood covered room, and Shepard levelling a gauss heavy pistol at the Alien's head, her left hand clutching at something Hargreave couldn't see.

The Aliens dropped Hargreave as the raised their guns, but they were cut down by a hail of gunfire.

Hargreave crawled along the floor, desperate to stay down. The doors closed behind him as the Aliens dropped dead.

Shepard pulled Hargreave onto his feet.

"Buddy? You..." She stopped, looking at the scar on Hargreave's right temple and the blood on his clothes.

"I'm fine." Hargreave lied. "Where's my gun? We doing this?"

"Right here. Dumb bastards didn't even unload it." Said Grahm, chucking Hargreave his m1911.

He caught it with both hands, wobbling on his feet slightly. He pulled back on the slide, checking it had one in the chamber.

"All right." Said Shepard. "The plan remains the same. Everyone ready!"

"Aye." the marines and Grahm replied. Hargreave gritted his teeth and fought throw the pain.

The fifteen of them got into breaching posistion, seven on each side of the door, Shepard in the middle, gun raised, ready for the Aliens to burst through.

"You'll probably want this back." Said Shepard, chucking a small white object towards Hargreave. He caught it and looked into it.

It was his molar, slightly covered in blood.

He grimaced, but a grenade was a grenade. He pocketed it, raised his gun and got into a cqc stance.

"On 3. 1...2..."

"All hands. Evacuate the ship and board the Harvest ship. Abandon ship. Abandon ship." said a voice over want Hargreave assumed was the intercom.

Hargreave and Grahm shared a look of confusion whilst the others looked to Grahm for translation.

"They're... Leaving the ship?"

"What?" Asked Shepard.

"I don't get it either. Are they going to blow it up with us onboard?" Asked one of the marines, fear obvious in her voice.

"No." Hargreave replied resolutely. He sheathed his pistol.

"They... They want us to go to Santiago. Lead them there." he said.

"What?" Asked Shepard.

"I... Talked with one of them. They gave me a message. Wanted me to give "our species government" their demands." He said.

"What were their demands?" Asked one of the marines. Grahm began to mutter under his breath.

"Unconditional surrender. And something about...Submitting to understanding." Said Hargreave.

"We understand." Said Grahm blankly quietly under his breath. A few nearby marines looked at him for a second before returning their gaze to Hargreave.

"Well... I mean, we want them to follow us after all. Win win right?" Asked one of the marines.

Hargreave placed a hand against his temple.

"s...Sure." He replied.

"Stand down marines." Said Shepard with a confused look on her head.

"All right. Marines, execute secondary objective." Said one of the marines. The marines began to walk out of the brig.

"Secondary objective. What the fuck are you talking about?" Asked Shepard.

"This doesn't concern you ceti." Said the marine, glaring at Shepard.

"What the hell is secondary objective." Asked Hargreave, placing his hand back onto his pistol.

"Sir..."

"Rank and name." Said Hargreave coldly.

"Commander Marshall Bishop." Said the marine, sighing.

"As Captain I outrank you. State your secondary objective." Said Hargreave.

The other marines weren't leaving the hallway outside the brig, watching the conversation.

"Sir... Fine. Our primary objective is the capture of this ship, return to Santiago, wait for the Aliens to attack and disembark back to Episilon controlled space. But.. Our secondary objective is to acquire, and if possible the alien technology that allows for the auto translation of their language."

"What!" Barked Shepard as Hargreave raised his gun and aimed directly between Marshall's eyes.  
He looked shocked.

"Sir! We are only following orders."

"I don't care. You can't honestly tell me command ordered you to submit to invasive brain surgery for alien tech we don't fucking understand!" Shouted Hargreave.

"We need every advantage possible to win this war."

"I'm ranking officer on this mission, I order you to desist in your secondary objective." Said Hargreave.

"These orders come from the Admiral herself. You do not outrank her."

"I will kill any man or woman that makes their way to the med bay aboard this ship." Growled Hargreave.

He heard a click and looked to his left. Grahm had a gun pointed at his head.

"We need this to win the war Hargreave. Don't make us kill you." Said Grahm.

"You have to be kidding me. We know this implants are rotting the Alien's brains, they might well be doing it to me and you as we speak. Why the fuck..."

Hargreave flinched as something plunged into his neck. Marshal had a syringe gun in his hands, aimed directly at Hargreave's neck.

"CN-90-1. Only thing that'll knock you SOIG Bastards out." Said Marshall.

Hargreave fell back, slamming into the cold metal floor.

"Shepard, if you breath a word of this to anyone we'll kill you. Grahm, secure Hargreave and prepare this ship for departure to Santiago." Said Marshall as Hargreave's vision darkened.

"Fuck... Thi...is...wrong." gurgled Hargreave before his head fell back into darkness.

* * *

Hargreave awoke, cuffed to a chair in a oddly quiet ship, Shepard cuffed next to him.

"Sup buddy. Glad to see your awake." Said Shepard, wiping her forehead with her free hand.

"How long was I out." Hargreave mumbled.

"one day. We're still about 24 ly from Santiago." Said Shepard. Hargreave looked up at one of the nearest marines, a obvious surgery scar on his temple.

"All of them?" Hargreave asked.

"Not me. That's it. And there's about 300 of the fucking implants in storage." She said.

"Godammit." Hargreave replied.

"Can't believe the depths Epsilon Eridani would stoop to. Tau ceti as well I suppose, I'm sure they've been using whatever implants were onboard that other frigate you stole."

"Godammit. We can't play with fucking fire like this." Said Hargreave. "Alien tech isn't stuff we should be jamming into our fucking brains."

"Well, at least it can't get much worse." Said Shepard.

"Until we drag an entire alien fleet to a planet who's sole sin is that they are loyal to our species homeworld? Yeah, great." Said Hargreave.

Grahm looked towards them from his control panel and walked over.

"Hargreave." He said simply.

"Grahm."

"Shepard, you're free to go, though what Marshall said is true. Not a word." Said Grahm, fumbling with his keys to unlock her cuffs. She rubbed her wrists, turning to both Hargreave and Grahm as she stood up. Grahm glared at her. She got the message, walking away.

"Hargreave. You have to understand. Us being able to comprehend the alien language is possibly the only way we can work out their... Element zero technology and the only way we can win against them." Grahm said.

"I want this god-damn implant out of my fucking head Grahm. You've seen how fucking mentally unfit these alien's are. There's something bigger at play we are not seeing. They couldn't have made this kind of tech." Said Hargreave.

"You? Of all people, scared of a brain implant? Arthur. You've got a ocular implant for magnification, a aural implant to prevent yourself getting tinnitus when you fire a gun, an implant which can take fucking video's of what you see, another aural implant for translating human languages, carbon nanotube reinforced bones, iron nanites in your lungs to hold your breath for longer, a organ which secretes Adrenaline at will, a fucking backup defibrillator on your heart, nanites that slow your ageing by a tenth." Ranted Grahm. "What's one godamn more?"

"It's not he fucking fact I've got one more device inside my head, it's that it's making a fucking constant sound, and that I know it's rotting mine and your brain." Said Hargreave.

"I've not lost brain function at all over the last month." Said Grahm.

"I... You..." Said Hargreave.

"It's not real. Ignore what the happens to the aliens. Maybe we are tougher then them. Better brain chemistry." Said Grahm.

"...Maybe." Said Hargreave.

"Look, I'm going to uncuff you. Tell me you aren't going to kill everyone, including yourself, but Shepard if I let you go." Said Grahm. "I need you to understand."

"Yeah yeah. I won't." Said Arthur.

Grahm reached behind Hargreave and unlocked the cuffs.

"Good. Now, get ready. It's another 3 days out to Santiago and we need to be ready for the alien's to open fire on us as soon as we drop out of... Well, it's not warped space. I think we are actually going really fast in realspace, which is weird." Said Grahm.

"I know, shouldn't time be paused onboard? Shouldn't we be going back in time, or have more mass then the entire universe?" Said Hargreave.

"Fucking alien tech." Said Grahm.

"Grahm... We have to get these implants out of our head the moment the war is over." Said Hagreave.

"Sure. But until then." Said Grahm.

"Until then. Let's hope our plan works." Said Hargreave.

* * *

They had spent less then six hours in system before the alien fleet appeared behind them. They didn't stick around, using the alien ships FTL drive to jumped between four or five different systems to lose their trail. A week later, they learnt about the fall of Santiago from a few of the lucky survivors that managed to evacuate. The entire colony was overrun in less then twelve hours. By the time word got back to Earth, they were furious. In a speech to the UN and spread across the communication drone network, the UN Chancellor Frank Grimes declared total war on the genocidal aliens and formally requested that all of humanity back them in taking the fight to the aliens.

Ultimately, after Procyon, Tau and Epsilon gave similar speeches in support of the war effort, the Human/Keplerian war formally began on July 12th 2124. Designs for chemical laser equipped ships nicknamed "The Porcupine" were passed between the extra solar and solar governments. Designed to simply have as many laser point defence grids as possible, the tactic was to warp as close to alien ships as possible and tear them apart through their shields.

Epsilon Eridani handed over the alien craft the marines captured to the Sol government as a sign of good faith.

300 officers were implanted with the alien technology and sent to the front-lines. More and more would be implanted as more alien tech was captured.

By war's end, only one implanted officer would survive.

* * *

 _ **Communication drone network  
**_ Also known as the CDN, this is a public network of several thousand fast communication drones that can send messages across human space. With a speed of 20 ly/day, every colony can receive news within a week of it happening. During the Keplerian war the system was over-ridden by the war alliance to spread military intelligence and orders to the front lines. (Written 2126)

 ** _War Alliance_**

Born on the 17th July 2124, this was a short lived alliance between Sol, Tau ceti, Procyon and Epsilon Eridani to combat the threat of extinction by the Keplerians. After the war ended, the alliance broke down remarkably quickly.  
Rumours of why it broke down simply two days after the assault on the alien home world suggest it was because of learning of what actions were taken to drag the governments into the war, or perhaps of the various highly illegal and unethical experiments that took place during the war on both humans and Keplerians. As of 2150, nothing had been confirmed. (Written 2154)

* * *

 _ **Hey guys. There's two ways I can go about the next chapter and I wan tot leave the choice up to you. I can either skip to the good parts of the war near the end with a timeline of event to cover the lesser parts, or I can dimply cover what Shepard, Hargreave and Grahm see of the war. I want to level the choice up to you, since after the war we will be jumping through time more regularly, so these chapters will be some of the last to take place before humanity get mass effect technology. Leave a review saying your opinion or message me. Peace.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Alcubierre  
Chapter 7-1: The Keplerian war**_

 ** _July 19th 2124_**

Joint Epsilon Eridani and Procyon fleet moves in to secure nearby colony of Man's grasp, some 5 ly from Santiago. Expecting alien attack within the next few days, they begin fortifying the star bases and evacuating civilian personnel. First use of "Porcupine" Class frigates with ship sized laser PDC's. Designs are based on the "Blinker" Class of CQC warp frigate with Laser Point defence cannons rather than Gauss or gatling guns.

 ** _July 21st, 2124  
_**

First true battle of the Keplerian war. The Keplerian 2nd fleet, responsible for the initial subjection of Kepler 138b arrived with 30 frigates, 10 cruisers and a unknown capital ship class, believed to be based around a single large element zero acceleration gun, classified as "Dreadnought" class.

Porcupine class ships prove extremely effective at close ranges, though limited numbers mean that ships can attack them at range whilst they are focusing on another craft. Of the twelve porcupines in system, 10 are lost before Admiral Faraday (EENS) sounded the retreat. Human losses are 14 gauss frigates, 10 porcupines, 9 cruisers and a light carrier. 80% loss of ships, with twelve million total confirmed causalities including civilians on ground and in orbital stations. 3 ships remain in system to aid the asteroid belt resistance of the system.

 _ **July 24**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2124**_

Sol 1st and 2nd fleet warp (Including the super carrier "Reach beyond Grasp") into Kepler 138b in an attempt to cut off the Keplerians from the mass relay, as the system is the closest to the relay system. Discover that the entire surviving population of Kepler 138b has been turned into cybernetic zombies, codenamed "Biological weapon 138b" or their call sign name "Thralls."

Whilst the Sol navy initially caught the defenders off guard, two days later the Keplerian fleet coming from the relay overran the sol naval fleet. Still, at least 6 Alien ships were captured and taken out of the system before the counter-attack arrived. Sol retreated quickly, leaving only 10% loss of ships.

 _ **July 28**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2124**_

Charon relay discovered by mining team in Sol. Immediately placed under the control of the Sol 3rd fleet and will remain so until war's end, tying up ¼ of the Homeguard navy, rather than defending the Main belt, Mars, Luna or Earth.

SOIG agent Hargreave and Corsair agent (Tau Ceti Special operations, focusing on independent deniable operations) Shepard are sent to secure a monitoring facility being created 17 Au from the Wolf-0812032 mass relay. Attempting to build a monitoring station under the nose of the Aliens, using extremely fast (25 ly a day) Probes to send early warning on alien movement into and from the mass relay.

 _ **July 31**_ _ **st**_ _ **, 2124**_

Free of the Cradle terrorists detonate a dirty bomb in Aldrin city on Luna, killing hundreds of thousands of people and threatening Sol/ Extra solar relations.

Procyon and Tau Ceti flotillas engage a Alien craft only 40 ly from Sol. No communication is made with the craft, and it is unknown how it managed to get so far into human undetected. Around two days earlier one of the Epsilon Eridani's captured Alien ships went missing, as well as 30 implanted officers. The whole thing is kept Cherubic level classified.

 _ **August 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **, 2124**_

The battle of Shang Ze. A mineral rich system with three Negative Mass Colliders, two mineral rich asteroid belts and no habitable planets, it's the first real attack on human infrastructure rather then simple colonies made by the Keplerians. The NMC's are purposefully destroyed to prevent the Alien's capturing the tech needed to reverse engineer Alcubierre drives.

With the Lost of the Shang Ze Shipyards, production of the new Porcupine class frigate is moved to 61 Cygni, slowing down the speed they can be sent to the front lines.

Current naval sizes. Sol, Extra Solar fleet 1 and 2. Earth's main fleets stay in Sol.

1 Super carrier class "Reach Beyond Grasp"  
3 Carriers "Akira", "Beserk" and "Godzilla"  
6 Light Carriers  
98 Cruisers  
160 Frigates, including 14 Porcupine class

Epsilon Eridani and It's Satellite colonies

4 Carriers "Pestilence","Famine","War" and "Death"  
9 Light Carriers  
100 Cruisers  
140 Frigates including 29 Porcupine Class

Tau Ceti and it's Satellite Colonies  
2 Carriers "Along the Watchtower" and "Changing Times."  
4 Light Carriers  
60 Cruisers  
120 Frigates, zero porcupine class

Procyon and it's Satellite colonies

3 Carriers "Judge" "Jury" and "Attorney" (Executioner being destroyed during the 61 Cygni wars 14 years prior and never being rebuilt)  
5 Light Carriers  
82 cruisers  
60 frigates, 30 armed with Laser PDC's but not technically Porcupine class

 **August 4th- August 17** **th**

The Thirteen day silence. Longest stretch of inaction by either side during the war until after the third battle of Kepler 138b. It is believed that this is part to both sides needing time to resupply and refortify their ships and colonies/Captured planets.

 _ **August 16**_ _ **th**_

Listening post in Wolf-0812032 successfully sends information on relay movement and remains undetected by Keplerians. Agents Hargreave and Shepard redeployed on separate missions, Shepard to Tau Ceti to combat local free of the Cradle cell, and Hargeave to Santiago to aid in resistance movement on planet.

 _ **August 18**_ _ **th**_

The previously undiscovered mass relay in the system of Kruger 60 system comes online. This Mass relay is only 13 ly from Sol. No Government has the know how or tech to shut it down. Epsilon Eridani Carrier fleet "War" (Containing the Carrier "War", 30 Cruisers, one light Carrier and 50 Frigates, including 10 Porcupine class) heads to the system preparing for an overwhelming Alien Attack, with the Sol Supercarrier fleet not far behind.

 _ **August 21**_ _ **st**_

The Massacre of Kruger 60. Overwhelming Dreadnought and Carrier fleet arrives in system mere hours before the Sol Supercarrier fleet can arrive.  
They easily destroy the Carrier fleet with 100% Epsilon Eridani losses, only losing 14 ships out of 130 in doing so. When the Sol fleet Arrives in system amidst the utter destruction of the Epsilon fleet they sound a full retreat. They still suffer 45% losses, including a light carrier.

Kruger 60 is now the main priority of the War alliance, given it's proximity to the heartland of Humanity and access to a mass relay. Forces are withdrawn from the boonies (Anywhere beyond the 50 ly radius of Sol) and are ordered to make all haste to the staging area of New North Wales in Wolf 1061. It will take days for the message to be received and the fleets to converge.

 _ **August 23**_ _ **rd**_ _ **\- August 25**_ _ **th**_ _**  
**_The battle of Tau Ceti.

The first true human victory in the war, A single Keplerian Dreadnought and 50 ships enter the Tau Ceti system. This is the first attack on a major population centre and despite limited Success in orbit against the defence fleet they are utterly trounced on the ground by both the Tau Army and impromptu Militia forces. By the time the Sol Supercarrier and Tau Ceti Carrier Fleet "Along the Watchtower" arrive in system the Keplerians are cornered, unable to make a long FTL journey and without an in system mass relay.

The Dreadnought is crippled but not destroyed, and scientists begin to pick apart the massive 2km long ship.  
Alien Casualties- 90%  
Human Casualties- 34%  
48 million killed planet side. Tau Ceti population- 4.5 billion.

Aliens showed reluctance towards orbital bombardment

 _ **August 30**_ _ **th**_

First Kruger Counter-attack  
Procyon Carrier fleet "Jury" and Epsilon Eridani fleet "Pestilence" attack the Kruger-60 system. They are unable to destroy the Carrier in system and unable to make a dent in the forces. A small Frigate Wolfpack break off from the fighting and travel through the mass relay. They do not return. They were commanded by Implanted Captain Sarah Hyde.

Number of implanted officers reach 1200

 _ **August 31**_ _ **st**_

Spy satellite in the Kruger system reports massive movement, including two new dreadnoughts. Wolf-0812032 hasn't reported much movement, suggested the relay in Kruger is either linked to Keplerian space or these are the two Dreadnoughts fleets already in human space. This information isn't known by the War alliance until 2 days later.

 _ **September 2**_ _ **nd**_ _ **  
**_Spy satellite in Kruger reports only a small fleet guarding the Kruger mass relay. Inner core systems placed on high alert, all communication drones are capture for military use to send rapid reports in case the enormous fleet is reported in any system. It is believed the the Aliens should have gathered the Intelligence that the Sol System is humanities homeworld from captured or imprisoned humans.

Riots on Earth put down with military force, Saber1 declared in Sol, placing all military ships, bases and personnel on maximum alerts. Earth's enormous nuclear stockpile placed on "Ready to fire".

 _ **September 4**_ _ **th**_

The battle for Earth begins. Three Dreadnoughts, Two carriers and 200 sub captial ships arrive in the Sol System. They are immediately bogged down in Upper Earth atmosphere by the Sol 1st and 2nd defence fleet whilst independent Sol fleets such as Lunar Defence and Mars Defence use hit and run strikes to force the Keplerians to retreat into the Main belt.

Sol Fleet loses 70% of it's ships in the first day, including it's super Carrier.

Negative Mass Foundry exploded in Mars orbit, destroying 30 ships.

 _ **September 5**_ _ **th**_

The Main Belt Guerrilla war. The Main belt uses illegal guerrilla tactics, including radiation weapons and destroying civilian Asteroids to impact the fleet. All five Capital ships still not destroyed. Fleet stationed in Charon moves in system but are quickly destroyed under the fire-power of three dreadnoughts.

Nuclear weapon detonated in Cairo to destroy one of the Alien landing parties and contain massive Thrall army.

Despite limited Success, the Keplerians return to Earth atmosphere, ignoring Mars and Luna, and begin to land troops planetside.

 _ **September 6**_ _ **th**_

The Darkest day in Earth history. Keplerians limited ground forces are supplemented by massive Thrall population. Nuclear weapons are used to destroy ships in atmosphere, wiping out power across large stretches of Earth. Many countries placed under Martial law.

By the day's end, there are seven landing zones in the US, twelve in Europe and fourteen in Asia. Desperate not to utterly destroy their own planet, no more nuclear devices are used after 16:00 EST. The everything west of the Mississippi in America, most of China and half of Europe are without power following the use of Nuclear devices in upper atmosphere. Governments begin to collapse.

Procyon fleet secures the Kruger 60 system whilst Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti fleets consisting of the "Along the Watchtower", "Changing Times" and "Death" carrier fleets begin to head towards Sol.

Shepard deployed as fighter pilot aboard "Along the Watchtower"  
Hargreave captains "Midnight City" ESNS Porcupine class frigate, with Joshua Grahm as xo.

 _ **September 7**_ _ **th**_

The second battle for Earth. The Allied fleets arrive directly in Earth orbit and immediately catch the Keplerian fleet off guard. Laser equipped ships are used to devastating effect in Knife fight engagement and larger ships are used to power cities that have been without power.

Two dreadnoughts are destroyed in Earth orbit, whilst countless smaller vessels are destroyed in atmosphere.

Captain Hargreave secures two frigate kills, whilst Lieutenant Shepard aids in taking down one of the Dreadnoughts.

 _ **September 8**_ _ **th**_

Keplerians pushed out of Sol. With the Sol fleet devastated and Tau Ceti and Epsilon Eridani repairing and regrouping, plans are drawn up for a second counter attack at Kepler 139b, to use it as a staging area in an assault against the Keplerian homeworld.

Pre September Population of Sol- 13.7 billion  
Post September Population- 9 billion

Operation "Return to Sender" is planned. Sending several light ships through the Kruger mass relay and softening the defences, since it is believed that the Keplerians have overstretched their war machine to it's fullest potential. Shepard is to take part in the second battle of Kepler 138b whilst almost every Implanted officer, including Hargreave and Grahm, are to take part in Operation "Return to sender."  
 _ **  
September 10**_ _ **th**_

Procyon, Epsilon Eridani and Tau Cei fleets set off for Kepler 138b and should arrive their in nine days, whilst the 30 frigate strong Operation is waiting in Kruger 60 for the right time to strike.

 _ **September 14**_ _ **th**_

Operation Return to sender confirmed massive failure. All ships lost, only a single survivor found in a coma weeks later when the main attack on the Keplerian system begins. No more ships or drones are sent through the Kruger Relay.

 _ **September 16**_ _ **th**_

Keplerian's withdraw from Santiago and Man's Grasp to reinforce Kepler, the closest system to their mass relay.

Skirmish at the colony of Rubicon. 8 Keplerian frigates and 2 cruisers vs 10 local frigates and 4 local cruisers.  
Only 2 Keplerian frigates escaped, at the loss of every local ship.

 _ **September 19**_ _ **th**_

The third battle of Kepler 138b. Ends in a decisive Alliance victory since Alliance forces arrived before local reinforcements could. With the system secured, even against the next wave of reinforcements, the Keplerians are considered fully driven out of human territory. Following the failure of Operation return to sender, The Alliance takes a break to mass produce more ships and gather more recruits and bring more people out of retirement.  
Kepler 138b officially falls under Earth jurisdiction and is named Kepler's Defeat.

* * *

 _ **Chapter 7-2:**_

 _ **Operation return to sender**_

 _ **Spoilers: the following chapter will be trippy**_

 _ **September 12**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 3 hours till departure  
Kruger 60 system, 200km from Kruger Mass relay  
ESNS Porcupine class Frigate "Midnight City"**_

He played the message again.

It was Shepard, in her military uniform, a scar on her cheek, a tooth knock out and her red hair sprawled behind her. She was sweaty, hot, and looked like she tore apart a dreadnought. Which she did.  
Hargreave spared a glance in his mirror. He saw the cut across his right eye he got on Santiago, his proud chin and nose unbroken, his blond hair now way belong military standard. His Cerulean eyes glowing. His surgical scar had healed at least.

"Hey Arthur. Got your message. That was... One fucking hell of a fight. Like something out of Hollywood. Me and you in the skies above Earth fighting for our right too survive. Anyway, yeah, I'm heading back to Kepler 138, which will be pretty interesting. Still onboard "Along the Watchtower" for now, though who knows how long that'll last. I know you're heading right into the dragon's den itself so I'll just say this." Shepard said. He turned back to her. "Stay alive out there you here? Hey, when you get back, we'll head to a bar on Tau. Drink's are on me."

Hargreave smiled. He wondered what he would do after the war. Previously he liked heading beyond human space and staying the fuck away from civilisation. But he just fought to keep that civilisation alive. Scientists were hard at work reverse engineering the element zero technology. Human space was going to change and he didn't want to run away again.

He thought back to ten years ago, where he went with his friend Grahm into Trailblazer, a company that actually no longer did business.

He quickly recorded a message on his holopalm.

"Hey Hannah. I know a great bar in Freedom's Reach I went to whenever I was in system. Hell, there's a pretty fucking good Freedom's Reach monopoly pub crawl we could do. You, me, Grahm. The three musketeers getting shitfaced in Epsilon. That, or maybe some lame Tau bar. Up to you really. And don't worry. I haven't died on a mission yet."

Hargreave closed the message. Ironically it was utterly pointless, he wouldn't be able to send the message until long after he completed the operation. But it was just a nice touch.

He closed his holopalm and stretched, before walking out of the captain's quarters. His magboots keeping him solidly on he floor.

He climbed the central ladder towards the CIC.

As Hargreave climbed off the ladder he looked around his ship.

Porcupine class ships, developed by Dr Namatame and Space X, are 130 metre longer Frigate class ships armed entirely with Laser point defence cannons. They are designed with two Warp drives to rapidly jumped during fights to ranges of potential 10's of kilometres or less and spam lasers for as long as possible before warping out. They had no missiles, no gauss guns, no drones. It was designed for the sole purpose of tearing through element Zero shields and by god did it do that well. The ship was so fast at Battlefield warping that most ships own Point defence guns could even lock onto it before it's laser salvo destroyed them.

Of course, Lasers required constant calibration and maintenance, but it was the difference between 4-1 fights against Keplerian ships to 1-1 or even 1-2 fights.

If shields got introduced to other Human ships, they were going to have to come up with some kind of countermeasure to this kind of craft.

But hopefully the Keplerians wouldn't.

Hargreave sat in the Captain's chair and strapped himself in, starring at a holographic display showing the Mass relay, as well as messages from the other Captains similarly waiting for 17:00 Military standard time.

"Yeah, she offered me to go to a bar with her in Tau." Said one of the men on the CIC, sitting at one of the terminals. Lieutenant Paskins if Hargreave remembered correctly.

 _Huh. Looks like I'm not the only one._

"What? Wait, no. Shepard said that to me." Said the man next to him.

 _What the? Shepard is asking random strangers to drinks on Tau? Huh, well, I guess that means we really are going to paint the planet red._

"Shut up Dave. We can't have both the... Wait. Who the fuck is Shepard?" Said Paskins.

"my head hurts." Said Dave, scratching at his right temple.

Hargreave touched his own temple, right above his implant.

 _The fuck is going on?_

Hargreave tried to ignore the voices in the back of his mind and began the pre fight checklist, making sure the Warp drives were operational, the Laser Defence cannons were calibrated, ensuring that the Ablative armour was at 100% and that the ships 10 total EM drives were functional.

All checks passed, so Hargreave tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair, waiting for the call.

" _Prepare yourselves._ " hargreave said.

He shook himself. He didn't intend to say that.  
Hargreave breathed in and out. It was just nerves.

 _I'm just worried about the battle, that's all. We need to ensure we make it out of the battle alive. Try and capture more of the implants so that more of us can be made to understand. Understand.  
Understand._

 _We just need to harvest them. We need to protect the machine god. We are the machine god and we will protect the machine god. We are it and it is..._

"SIR!" Shouted Paskins. Hargreave shook himself. "Command says it's go time."

"Fire engines, prepare for Mass relay jump." Hargreave pressed a button on his chair. "All hands, prepare for Mass relay jump. Strap down all materials, ensure you're mag boots are armed and you are standing on a solid surface. We will be experiencing temporary gravity in five minutes."

 _What the hell was that about? Did I really just black out for 3 hours.  
We must ensure we are ready._

The ship began to accelerate towards the Mass relay, and Hargreave breathed in and out, clenching his fist as he did so. He was fine. We were fine. We are fine.

The fleet moved as one, 30 Porcupine class frigates heading towards the Kruger Mass relay.  
 _Heading home._  
 _Heading back._

Hargreave shook his head. Something was wrong.

He heard a scream. He kept going.

"All ships, prepare for Relay jump in 20 seconds." Said Commodore Kazinsky.

The ship began to travel along the length of the mass relay, 30 ships all in tandem to jump towards unknown lands.

Hargreave began to lurch forward as the Ship began to accelerate, loose objects flying towards the front of the ship. Every held on or sat tight as the Ship was fired 730 light years in the space of a single second.

Hargreave looked at the LADAR screen for a minute.. The ships had been scattered far and wide after the jump. Some very close to each other, a few at least 20 light seconds away. Still, they knew this would happen. The drone sent through had detected a planet in orbit around the star that the flotilla would warp too once they travelled through the relay _and started their ascension._

 _We will ascend._

"Warp to first planet, 0.54 AU from the star, Opposite side." Ordered Hargreave to Warp navigation. The ship began to enter it's warp bubble and accelerate towards the planet.

It took fifteen seconds to just above high orbit of the planet. Hargreave was the first to arrive, though he was soon joined by the rest of the flotilla.  
The entire fleet had coordinated their jump perfectly, no ship further than 40km from another, allowing for rapid communication.

Hargreave joined the Fleet Com, connecting him with the rest of the Captain's in the fleet.

"All right. Everyone survive the jump?" Asked Commodore Kazinsky.

The captains sounded their agreement.

"Excellent. Begin warping to Cyvi-912. We believe from Star Spectrometry and observation it's the most likely star to have a habitable planet. It's another 20 ly, and we will be radio silent during the jump, so good luck men. We will be arriving at these coordinates."

Hargreave looked to his Holopalm to see he had received a set of inner system warp coordinates.

He began to upload them to the Ship's computer. He was ready to meet god.

His right temple burnt for a second, but _we_ ignored it.

"All right. We know what we are doing. We shall meet eachother in the promised land, in the sight of the Machine God. Kazinsky out." Said the Commodore.

Hargreave nodded, as did the rest of the Officers onboard.

One by one the ships began to enter warp.

Hargreave gave the order, and the ship began to align with the star system.

Don't go there! LISTEN TO ME!

" _We are ready_ " Said hargreave. " _we shall ascend_ "

The ship's warp drive began to spin up, and soon enough they joined the rest of the fleet, heading straight towards what they hoped and knew was the Keplerian homeworld.

Hargreave ran a hand down his face. It was going to be a long

 _We are ready to ascend. We cannot harm a god. We cannot harm a god.  
We will become as god. Machine and flesh made whole  
Machine and flesh made_

Hargreave snapped back. He was stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom in his Captain's quarters. He stared into the mirror.

"You aren't you!" Shouted his reflection. "Break free."

What? He was Hargreave. _He grew up on Earth and joined Trailblazer to get away from his life as a gang.._  
He stared into the mirror.  
His temple was gushing black liquid, covering the right side of his face. He could see glowing blue eyes beneath the black. He held up his hand to the mirror and touched it. He blinked.

He stared at his reflection. A Blond haired man, with blue eyes, a sharp nose and mouth stared back. A scar across his right eye.

" _How much time have I lost?_ " hargreave asked, looking at his holopalm.

He got the time. 12:21, standard extrasolar military time, 13th September 2124. He had lost about 19 hours of time in the span of a second.

"What did I do?" Asked Hargreave.

Something wasn't right. This wasn't right.  
He was implanted. He had

 _Everything was fine. We are fine._

Hargreave departed from his cabin, making his way back up the ladder towards the upper command decks. He was fine.  
Grahm was stood next to his chair. Starring into space. Arthur sat down in the chair, strapping himself in. He may as well be ready for when they eventually dropped out of warp.

After about a minute he got bored.

"Grahm." He said.

Grahm shook himself and looked towards Hargreave.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Have... Have you been blacking out?" Asked Hargreave quietly.  
Despite talking at an almost whisper volume, everyone on the CIC looked towards him, anger evident in their faces.

"We are fine. You are fine." Said Grahm.

"Grahm. Something is wrong. We... Did Kazinsky say something about a machine god? What the hell was that about?" Asked Hargreave, ignoring the other starring officers on deck, who should have no way of hearing him.

"You are fine." Said Grahm. "You understand."

" _I understand_." Said hargreave.

Something was desperately wrong. His head was killing him. He usually ignored the headaches and migraines but the constant noise of screaming in the back of his head was getting ridiculous. It was getting louder.

Hargreave blinked.

Everyone had returned to their work stations, hard at work preparing the ship for possible engagement the moment it left the warp bubble.  
Hargreave looked behind him. Grahm was nowhere to be seen.

Hargreave opened his holopalm.

13:56

Hargreave stared at his arm. He had written on his arm.

Get it out!

 _It was nothing. We are fine. We understand._

"we understand." Said Paskins.

Hargreave flinched. Had Paskin's heard him? Had he been talking out loud.  
Get what out?

Something was wrong. Hargreave clutched his temple. Something was in his head.

" _I understand._ " hargeave spoke.

Hargreave forced his eyes closed.

He understood. That implant was controlling him somehow. He had to get it out. Everyone on board was affected, already under it's control. The closer he got to the Keplerian home world, the worse it was getting. He had the implant in his head for months. How much...

Hargreave opened his eyes.  
Grahm had it inside his head for an entire month longer then him. Hargreave was only days earlier with the implant then the rest of the officers here. But Grahm...

"Computer. Lock out all command to my voice and authorisation. No one is allowed to supersede me as captain of this ship, even in case of death." Said Hargreave resolutely. "I cannot override that previous order."

"Understood."

The officers on deck looked towards Hargreave absolutely furiously, but settled down as hargreave leaned forward.

" _belay that order computer._ " hargreave said.

"I cannot do so without a system reboot Captain." Said the robotic voice of the ship's computer.  
hargreave sighed.

Hargreave blinked, then immediately scrolled through the holographic screen, looking at the computer log. He had apparently just ordered the computer to rescind that previous order. But he had no memory of doing so.

"Captain." Said Grahm, standing right next to him seemingly out of nowhere. "You are making a mistake."

Hargreave knew now. He couldn't trust Grahm.

 _He understood._

" _Grahm, you have clearance. Begin a system reboot of the computer immediately._ " Said hargreave.

Grahm nodded, and began to climb down the ladder to the lower bowels of the ship.

Hargreave clenched his fist.

He blinked, and everyone was in slightly different positions once again.

Hargreave opened his holopalm.

16:48

On his arm, someone had written "Computer locked out"

"Sir." Said Grahm. _Hargreave_ flinched, noticing that once again Grahm was stood behind him on his right.

"We attempted to remove the block on the computer, but it requires a specific code from you."

I don't know the code. I can't remove that block.

 _We must try._

" _No matter Grahm. We will be in system and will behold it in 17 minutes 24 seconds. It matters little._ " hargreave replied.

 _We were almost ready to gaze upon the god. We shall then brings others before it and spread it's whispers, it's sermons, it's glory. We are it and it is we. We understand._

 _hargreave got out the chair, selecting the option for the holoscreen in front of him to show the front facing camera on board._  
 _We will look upon the face of god._

Hargreave started to sweat. He couldn't move his body, not even a finger. His eyes were drawn towards the screen, currently slowly the strange warped space of FTL, but somehow, he knew _he'd be looking upon a god._

Everyone else had changed their own terminals to show the same image. They all wanted to look out front _and behold humanity's ultimate fate._

 _Behold god._

Hargreave blinked. The warp field was fading as slowly the ship rejoined realspace.  
He skipped time once again. He started to shake. He heard other members of crew begin to scream.

 _He starred as they exited the warp field. They entered realspace a few hundred kilometres from the surface of a blue and green planet.  
His eyes were drawn to a point on it's northern continent, where there were no clouds around in a perfect circle._

"Focus on sector B7R-213" Said Hargreave. The computer zoomed in the image.

 _He stared. A great black monolithic god. It's tendrils scarred, it's body broken. But he knew perfection when he saw it. It's one red eye looking straight back at him. As the other ships of the fleet arrived in orbit they too were struck by it's magnificence. He knew now._

 _Starring into the god, he knew that mankind must be destroyed. They must be brought before the reaper and made a part of it. Devote themselves to making it whole again. They were it's disciples, the implanted understood. He..._

A gunshot rang out. Hargreave blinked, looking at his left shoulder. It was torn open by a .45 acp round, blood oozing through it. A .45 acp round fired from the gun currently in his right hand.

The crew turned on him. Turned to look at him.

If Hargreave died now, they couldn't control the ship.

Hargreave looked for Grahm, who was nowhere to be found, not noticing the nearby Paskin's climbing out of his chair.

Paskin's lept from the chair and slammed into Hargreave, his mag boots keeping him upright and still.

Paskins tried to plunge his fingers into Hargreave's eyes. Hargreave opened fire twice in Paskin's chest.

The other crew were getting out of their chairs, bloodlust in their eyes.

Hargreave held his gun with one hand, trying to aim at them all. He only had 7+1 rounds in his gun, and used 2. He did have a spare magazine on him at least.  
He was probably going to need that last one.

 _A shrill ring cried out.  
_ Hargreave clutched his head. It was in his head. That... thing was in his head.  
Hargreave ran, firing wildly into the floating crew as they tried to make their way towards him, desperate to kill him, _driven by a injured god._

This was wrong. He was wrong. He didn't understand.

"This is Commander Joshua Grahm. Captain Hargreave is a threat to our future. Kill him immediately." Said Grahm over the intercom.

Hargreave locked the ladder bulkhead door to the CIC and Immediately started to climb down the ladder.

He hit something on the way down. He looked below him.

Marine Corporal Sandra Tetsuo was trying to grab his foot. She looked furious. Terrifying. Hungry.

 _Understanding. hargreave allowed himself to be grabbed. She would help clense him.  
She unsheathed a knife from her shoulder and hargeave waited. Soon he would join the embrace of.._

Hargreave kicked her in the face, got his pistol out and shot her in the head.

The entire crew was implanted. Infected. Including him.  
He knew that there was only one thing to do.

"Computer." Said Hargreave.

"Captain." Said the metallic, robotic voice of the computer. _Almost like his god. His god. His..._

"Once I enter the medbay, shut down life support to all other areas of the ship. Ensure that all crew are dead before turning it back on. Authorisation code 9281-AH. Do not accept any attempt to override that order from myself or any other ranking officers. Begin to shut down life support regardless of my current location in three minutes" Said Hargreave as climbed down past the floating dead body of Corporal Tetsuo.

"Order Accepted Captain Arthur Hargreave." Said the computer.

" _computer. Override the last order. Authorisation code 9281-AH under grounds of previous mental instability._ " _Said hargreave as he stopped climbing down the ladder._

"I cannot override that order." Said the computer.

Hargreave continued to climb down, until a bulkhead door slammed shut in front of him. He swore. He was on the 14th deck and still needed to get to the 43rd for the medbay. Unsheathing his pistol, he held it with one hand, connecting on the floor with his mag boots. He breathed in and out slowly.

He could use the utility tunnels running throughout the ship to get to the deck, but he was certain Grahm... Or that reaper knew about them. They were probably crawling with the implanted.

Hargreave looked around. He was in the circular central room. He went through into the starboard side, his gun at the ready. Blood dripping out of his left shoulder. Hargreave heard a scream as Sergeant Mathers ran towards him like... Like one of those Thralls on Kepler 138b.

Hargreave raised his pistol. Firing one shot straight into his head. Mathers collapsed to the floor, still limply trying to crawl over to Hargreave even as grey matter leaked out of the hole in his head until he finally came to a stop one foot from him.

He stared at the blood on his hands. But kept limply walking towards the nearest entrance to the utility tunnel.

 _You are a monster. Killing your own men. Give in._

Hargreave got on his knees and entered the cramp tunnels. The tunnels were designed to be used in a zero g environment , lacking any kind of hand holds, which is interesting seeing as the ship was orientated that if you were in them whilst the ship was accelerating at 9.82ms/2 or even slower you could very well fall 100m to your death. They were also completely air tight if all the doors were shut.

He started to crawl, the tunnel almost completely dark other then small red led lights above the access hatches showing which deck you were on. Hargreave was climbing down from deck 14 and need to get to deck 43.

 _He wasn't going to make it. He may as well give Grahm the code to the computer and lay down and die. hargreave began to curl up in the fetal position and try and remembered what he set the code to. We need to know. We need to understand._

Hargreave shook himself. Ignore it. Fight it.

Hargreave began to crawl down, gun still in hand. He felt a slight pull of gravity. Perhaps the ship had started to spin. Hargreave clung to the outer wall of the ship and climbed down.

 _Into the belly of the beast. He had to get to the surface of the planet. Had to gaze upon god._

Hargreave froze. About twenty minutes in front of him, he saw a shaft of light appear then be blocked before disappearing all together. He glanced behind him and saw the same thing happen again. Two people were in the tunnel with him.

Hargreave grabbed his gun and _placed it against his temple. We had no need for him. The other ships could simply do the job. A unhelpful slave is worth nothing. He placed his finger on the trigger and..._

Pulled the gun away from his head. If he fired in here, this close to the outer hull, he'd cause a hull breach for sure, even with a round as small as .45acp.

Hargreave had no choice. _He had to give in_ He had to keep crawling.

And so he did. Down and down, watching ahead as more and more lights were blocked by whoever else was in the tunnel with him. It was getting closer.

Hargreave sheathed his pistol. And opened the nearest hatch. Deck 31.

He climbed out and readied his pistol again. Hull breach or no, he wasn't going to die like a rat.

Hargreave placed his finger on the trigger as the hulking Corporal Hatigew climbed out of the utility tunnels. He _Threw the gun aside. He didn't need it. He had no need of it. Embrace death. You shall all feel it soon._

Hargreave shook himself. The... _Reaper_ was actively trying to get him killed. Hatigew stood up at full height and , barely blinking, chargred straight at Hargreave. He dove for his previously discarded pistol, but Hatigew simply took it as an opportunity to kick him whilst he was down. Hargreave swore, as he was on his back, desperately trying to reach above his head with his one good arm for his pistol.

Hatigew stood on his neck, and Hargreave struggled to breath as Hatigew began to speak.

"We will ascend. The harvest is coming. We understand." he chanted. Hargreave watched in horror as four others, including the man following him in the tunnels from the other direction, stood around Hatigew and joined in the chanting.

"We will ascend. The harvest is coming. We understand." they all chanted, _their once distinct voices lost in their choir._

"We have seen the face of god. All will worship and surrender to the harvest." They chanted.

"St...Stop." Gurgled Hargreave, his eyes beginning to roll into his head as he tried desperately to breath.

"WE WILL ASCEND! THE HARVEST IS COMING!" They started to shout now. "WE UNDEST..."

Hargreave felt his hand grip around the pistol and he immediately fired straight into Hatigew, following by killing the rest, not stopping firing until the gun went click.

Hargreave coughed and wheezed, but he knew he pierced the hull. With the air draining out of the room he climbed back into the utility tunnel, locking shut the hatch door behind him.

He kept climbing, coughing and wheezing as he went. He ignored the screaming in his head, the beautiful song. Everything. He had to get this...Thing out of his head.

Hargreave moved like he never moved before, finally reaching the hatch for deck 43. He loaded his pistol, and slowly opened the hatch. Checking the coast was clear, he climbed out of the hatch. He started to sweep the area. He saw the door for the medbay, the steel bulkhead designed to surive almost anything.

He walked in, gun raised, immediately locking the door behind him.

He turned around, breathed deeply, his eyes closed.

He had made it.

Opening his eyes, his hand tightened around the gun as he brought it to aim straight at Grahm, who was standing dead ahead of him, arms by his side, his eyes blank.

" **Human.** " Said Grahm.

"Grahm. We've got the autosurgeon here. We can get these implants out of our head."

" **That will change nothing. We are infinitely your greater.** " Said Grahm. Hargreave felt a chill. This wasn't Grahm.

"Grahm... Snap out of it." Said Hargreave.

" **You do not even understand what we are. What we are capable of. You are nothing more then a nat compared to our form. Even now, we watch as all the billions of our slaves left try and reform us.** " Grahm spook, his voice like metal.

"...What are you." Said Hargreave. _Although he knew. He was speaking with god._

" **The Keplerians call us Harvester. You call us reaper. We are timeless. We are the pinnacle of all life. We are Azemothran.** " Said Grahm.

"...What do you want? Why are you..."

" **Our form is not currently fully operational. Every slave so willingly given will help us reforge anew. When we are complete, we will scourge the galaxy clean of all sapience. All deviance. All voices shall be silenced once more.** " Said Azemorthran, _the god and reaper._

"You..." Said Hargreave shakily. Grahm was dead. He, like Hargreave, had been dead the moment he had the implant. It was Grahm's idea to steal the ship and get more implants. To bring war to Santiago. It was Grahm. Or the being using Grahm's body. This... _God_ Reaper.

Hargreave aimed at his best friend for the past decade and pulled the trigger. The bullet slammed straight into Grahm's skull and he stumbled back slightly, but started to walk towards Hargreave.

Hargreave pulled the trigger again and again. Each bullet tearing chunks and shards out of his skull, but still, relentlessly, Grahm walked forward. Grahm raised his arms towards Hargreave's neck. Hargreave fired one more time and finally Grahm fell to the floor, his face little more then broken flesh mixed with bone and pieces of cybernetics.

Hargreave wiped away the tears as he climbed onto the auto-surgeon table. The clasps fell around him.

"Computer. Current life support status." Hargreave asked despondently.

"All systems bar Medbay shut down. Estimation for time of boarder's death. 7 minutes." Said the computer. Hargreave sighed. At least they were dealt with.

"Surgeon. Begin surgery on my left shoulder and remove implant classified K-BI-002 from my right temple. Wake me up when help arrives. Use nanite anaesthetic CN-90-1" Hargreave ordered.

"Understood." Hargreave relaxed. He didn't know if it was too late, but at least he was going to get that implant out of his head.

" _Surgeon computer._ " Said hargreave. " _Remove all implants from my skull, and place me into a vegative state. Ensure I do not ever wake up. During procedure, make sure I stay awake as long as possible. Do not use CN-90-1. Do not accept anymore orders."_

Hargreave blinked.  
no.

No.

No!

The saw began to move towards his skull, and Hargreave was still fully conscious. He screamed as the skull began to cut into his skull.

* * *

Operation return to sender Report  
Level Sepharic Classification  
Written, December 14th 2124

Operation return to sender, officially, failed due to the flotilla encountering a dreadnought, by which they valiantly sacrificed themselves to destroy, paving the way for our invasion.

In actuality, the failure of the operation can be traced back to four months earlier, when independent mercenary/explorer Joshua Grahm was implanted with alien tech. It is now known the implants are not of Keplerian design and in fact the creation of **[data expunged].**

Given the increasing effective of implanted soldiers, they were the majority sent on the operation. This proved to be the key reason the operation failed. It is believed some of the implanted were covertly indoctrinating the other members of the crew, ensuring that eventually, all onboard the thirty frigates sent through the Kruger relay were under the control of **[data expunged].**

The insanity this brought on manifested differently from ship to ship. On some, it simply lead to mass prayer and prostration of the artefact located on the Keplerian homeworld. On others, scenes of self cannibalism, mutilation and suicide were not uncommon. Despite, given what the indoctrinated stated were their goals, none of them successfully left the orbit of the planet. We believe that as their indoctrination increased their brain functions massively decreased. Being in relatively close proximity to **[data expunged]** seems to be much faster at causing these effects then the implants or nanites alone.

The only man left not either brain dead or insane is a single comatose man identified as Captain Arthur Hargreave, SOIG. It is believed, given captured logs, he attempted to remove the implant after they reached the planet, but instead seems to have plunged himself into a coma. In the interest of intelligence gathering, all attempts are being made to wake him up from this coma, but this may prove impossible.

Ultimately, the individual **[data expunged]** has been eliminated after orbital bombardment of the planet. However, it is believe this was simple a single damaged unit. If the audio logs of the indoctrinated crew are to be believed, **[data expunged]** is simply one of many, many thousands.

Given the technological and psychological armaments the unit displayed even in it's injured state, their exists no possible contingency for finding other **[data expunged]** at this time.

Commander Jack Harper.  
EEIS

Logging off.

* * *

 _ **Code:  
**_ _Itallics: Hargreave speaking or thinking whilst 100% under reaper control. Any dialogue without Hargreave capitalised is also him indoctrinated._

 _ **Just a head's up, don't expect the next update to be as quick.**  
_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Alcubierre  
Chapter 8: The end of the war. The end of peace**_

 _ **October 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **-2124**_

The war begins anew. The Inner core alliance has drawn on it's reserve forces and rebuilt much of it's war economy. Sol has put out it's fires, though many of it's ships are used to aid the recovery of the human homeworld. As such, only a few Sol ships are located in the staging area of Kepler 138, and most are to enforce their rule over the garden world of Kepler's defeat.

The plan is to bring an enormous fleet to Wolf-0812032 and capture the mass relay. Once done so, Scouting and probing flotillas will map the systems under control of the Keplerians on the other side.

 _ **October 3**_ _ **rd**_

The fleet consisting of the Tau ceti Carrier "Along the watchtower", Epsilon Eridani Carrier "Death", Procyon carriers "Attorney" and "Judge", 14 light carriers, 90 cruisers and 140 frigates, including 30 porcupine class frigates, are formed in the Kepler 138 system and placed under the command of Admiral Mitchell of Tau Ceti.

They set off towards Wolf-0812032, which should take the fleet a total of three days

 _ **October 5**_ _ **th**_

Earth discovers proof of a link between Epsilon Eridani and the ship that brought the Keplerian's to Santiago. Earth prepares to break off the war alliance the moment the alien homeworld is under control.

Sterility plague designed for Keplerian use developed at classified facility on Luna, though Sol gov has nothing to do with it. E./

 _ **October 6**_ _ **th**_

Fleet arrives at the Wolf Relay. No Keplerian ships guarding it. Believing a possible counter-attack, a fast communication drone from the observation station is sent out, but the fleet remains in system until two days later.

 _ **October 8**_ _ **th**_

Fleet enters the Wolf Relay.

Keplerian Homeworld discovered, as well as thirty inactive Porcupine class frigates. This information is kept classified.

No Keplerian defence in system, the fleet surrounds Keplerian homeworld, designated Cygnius, from outside high orbit.

Boarding teams are sent to destroy Porcupine frigates. Vast majority of ships discovered to be littered with corpses or Thralls. Only one living human discovered in a coma in the med-bay of the Frigate "Midnight City."

 _Azemorthran awakens._

 _ **October 9**_ _ **th**_

No Keplerian ships arrive. Infrastructure in ruins before human fleet even arrived. Orbital bombardment of major population centres to begin at 12:00 hours military time. Attempts are made to demand surrender before that time, though messages sent back are garbled, believed to be Keplerian screams.

11:59

Small region of the planet, sector B7R-213 experiences massive seismic activity. Black monolithic alien structure discovered. Immediately, an unknown weapon fires upon the Carrier "Judge", tearing it in half. All ships coverage in high orbit above the structure and attempt to bombard from orbit. Alien structure continues to fire unknown beam weapon, destroying much of the fleet. 2 hours of continual orbital bombardment do no visible damage.

Fleet retreats to behind Keplerian moon. Ground teams armed with several nuclear warheads are ordered to make landfall and enter the unknown alien structure and detonate at least one nuclear device. The legality of how these nuclear warheads got aboard the Carrier "Death" are looked over for now.

The nuclear devices are detonated, and the structure is damaged. Of the 200 men and women sent on the mission, 126 die.

Upon detonation of nuclear warheads and destruction of much of the structure, area is glassed to a crisp by orbital bombardment as structure was still capable of opening fire.

Last implanted people left in confinement several hundred light years away die after the orbital bombardment of the structure. Unbeknownst to humanity, 97% of Keplerians, all those implanted with at least some Reaper tech, suffer immediate brain death.

 _ **October 11**_ _ **th**_

Surviving fleet sends scouting flotillas to nearby star systems to find out how many colonies the Keplerians had. Keplerian homeworld almost completely devoid of sentient life. Small enclave of living Keplerians discovered in what is believed to be a temple or administrative building. They are captured and will be sentenced for crimes against humanity. Crude Translation software is capable of translating at least some of their language without relying on dangerous implants.

Cancerous births on Earth rise by 80%.

 _ **October 12**_ _ **th**_

Nearby systems show signs of habitation, but most Keplerians are dead. Plans are drawn up for internment camps to be created to hold large alien populations. Element Zero mines seized by fleet.

Reinforcements arrive.

 _ **October 13**_ _ **th**_ _ **  
**_Link found between what little remains of the strange alien structure and implants in most of the Keplerian corpses. A full review will be published in a month's time.

First human ship with element zero shielding created at 61 cygni shipyards.

 _ **November 2124**_

The Keplerian report is produced by an EEIS group.  
It outlines what they can assume about Keplerian society, their reason for war and just why so many of them are now dead.

 _The Keplerian report (Excerpt)_

For the past 6 months we have been aware we are not the only sapient beings in the galaxy. Further more, other sapient life wants to wipe us out. Despite having technology capable of translating human speech, no attempts were made by the Keplerians to make peaceful first contact or peace. It is now understood that the entire society worshipped a structure they discovered on their home world, currently named

 _ **Monolith**_ _, from which they were either given or took implants that make those implanted docile and suggestible, easily able to follow the orders of the ruling class (See section 2-1b "Enclave of Kepler). This alien device is not a Keplerian creation, and fielded tech far in advance of both us and the Keplerians themselves (See section 3-6 "Shepard, Report of Operation Oppenheimer). We believe that studying the remains is inadvisable at this time, as even small fragments of the ship are capable of producing a unknown signal which degrades brain chemistry. Indeed, the "implants" may in fact simply be small fragments of the_ _ **Monolith**_ _, rather than specifically designed implants for human or Keplerian implantation._

 _The destruction of_ _ **Monolith**_ _is believed to be what caused the mass genocide of the Keplerian people. At present times, given information gather by Keplerian subjects as well as autopsy of many of the dead,it is believed that 97% of the Keplerian people were implanted with at least some form of_ _ **Monolith**_ _implant. This is how such a small minority were able to exercise absolute control of the massive population._

 _The currently surviving population of Keplerians are believed to members of the ruling enclave and their children. This includes organisations such as "The Enlightenend" and "Azemorthran's gaze.". Any surviving Keplerian's as such are complicate in the murder of 5 billion humans in the Keplerian War (See Containment plan K-s9)._

 _Excerpt of the Keplerian War-An overview_  
 _Written by Agent Brooker, Agent Zheng and Agent Harper of the EEIS._

 _ **December 2124**_

Official cessation of hostilities between the Keplerian's and humanity. Given the months without those that farm or maintain civilisation, the current Keplerian population is at 67 million aliens. As they are likely to die out without intervention, they are placed in internment camps on their homeworld under the protection of the Inner core alliance.

All Element Zero reserves are captured. Since Keplerian science hasn't evolved since the discovery of **Redacted** 300 years ago, there are no Keplerian scientists.

Earth breaks off the war alliance, and publicly accuses Hannah Shepard and Epsilon Eridani of war crimes.

 _ **January 2125**_

First children born on Earth with element Zero nodes. Due to mass Element Zero pollution caused by the battle of Earth, many human children are born with cancer, but also these strange modules of Element Zero. It is unknown if they have any long term effects. A scientific study into "September Syndrome" is started.

Virus spreads among interned Keplerian population. 2 million die in captivity.

 _ **February 2125  
**_

No cure is developed for the Kepler Flu. A further twelve million die. Quarantine procedures keeping Keplerians in solitary confinement seem not to work, it is believed the virus is carried by humans.

Independent War Crime's tribunal throws out Sol's case against Epsilon Eridani due to insufficient evidence. EE and Sol relations never recover.

Captain Arthur Hargreave placed at the medical station "Ma Lan's hope" in Freedom's Reach orbit. He remains in a coma.

Lieutenant Commander Shepard retires from the Corsairs and joins the Navy proper, becoming XO of the Tau Ceti Cruiser "Fortunate Son."

 _ **March 2125**_

Suicide rates amongst Keplerians continues to rise. Desperate measures are taken to prevent Keplerian extinction.  
Virus continues to ravage their population. Given it's resistance to treatment and specific symptoms, including sterility, it is believed to be an artificially created bio-weapon. No origin is confirmed, as most governments were working on a version of such a virus. Certain members of the Keplerian species are frozen in order to attempt to preserve their population.

First Human ship with Artificial gravity, the Procyon Corvette "Feet on the ground" is built. It utilises Element Zero on the bottom of the ship to stimulate the 10.34g of Procyon throughout the ship. The ship is orientated Landscape, something not done since the creation of the EM drive in the mid 2040's.

 _ **April 2125**_

Only 12 million still surviving Keplerians exist in captivity.

Former Keplerian colonies are selected for human colonisation. Element Zero mines are now fully manned and operational.  
Element zero is being mined at a slow pace, and as such Element zero is planned to be used simply for artificial gravity over shielding or weaponry, seeing as humanity has a hard counter to element zero mass shields in the form of Warp CQC Blinker frigates.

 _ **May 2125**_

Keplerian population stabilises at 11 million. Cure for the disease is found, though no governments or groups admits fault with the creation of the virus.

Mass Relay mapping program begins. Humanity previously had no idea about the existence of Mass relays, as such, no relays were found in the vastness of space. Now that humanity are aware of their existence, there is a sizeable reward for the discovery of new mass relays. However, there is a stipulation that under no circumstances are mass relays to actually be turned on.

ATLAS program begins in the Freedom's Reach Institute of Technology, the idea to create a fully sapient Artificial intelligence which believes it's a human in a simulated environment. Ethical concerns abound, but the research continues anyway.

 _ **2126**_

Inner core alliance breaks apart. Whilst the fact that Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti were complacent in the destruction of the colony of Santiago has been suppressed by all sides, Procyon and Earth are both fully aware of this. Procyon allies with the Sol system to create the Solar Protectorate, whilst Tau and Epsilon reform into the Alliance of Free stars. A few independent colonies join both sides, with the Solar Protectorate offering greater military spending and defence against extra-human and human threats, whilst the AFS sketching up plans for a proper multi system government, using the plans for FTL Communication system cannibalised from the Keplerian FTL beacons.

The number of human colonies reaches 122, including colonies in the new "Keplerian" frontier. Population of major colonies include:

Epsilon Eridani (Large number of Earth refugees): 3.7 billion  
Tau Ceti: 4.9 billion  
Procyon: 4.8 billion  
Sol: 12 billion (nine Billion on Earth)  
61 Cygni: 1.1 billion

Many humans still live in artificial environments in Lagrange points or in geosynchronous orbit, or not technically part of any official government. Total human population has fallen from last census from 150 billion to 147 billion.

 _ **2127**_

The Free of Orion project proposed and funded. A massive 4km colony ship with heavy military escort designed to leave the Orion arm of the Galaxy and head closer to the heart of the Galaxy in search of Extra-terrestrial life and a place to escape possible Reaper attack. They are authorised to use and Activate Mass Relays at least 1200 LY from Sol. Funded by a joint AFS, Space X and Hargreave Aerospace venture.  
The project will not ever be completed, and the near finished Ship will simply sit in a shipyard 70 LY from Earth, cancelled in 2135.

Sol protectorate and ASF enter diplomatic talks to relieve tensions after a small skirmish in the Colony of Man's Grasp. The Talks are considered a success as both sides step down from military action and full embassies are created on Earth, Virgil (Tau Ceti), Eden (Procyon) and Freedom's Reach (Epsilon Eridani).

A recent survey suggests that the vast majority of Humans don't care about the survival of the Keplerian people.

 _ **2128**_

Commander Hannah Shepard placed in charge of the Tau ceti Frigate "Sympathy for the Devil (II)"

Prototype FTL beacon successfully tested between Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti. First real-time FTL conversation in human history. Utilises Keplerian technology in the form of miniature mass relays to create a corridor of FTL space that data can be sent through. Cost of the project is astronomical, but set to cheapen as element Zero mining begins outside of the Keplerian frontier.

ATLAS project cancelled. Scientists cite lack of funding and increasing ethical concerns. The technology will form the basis of the SSAI ( Semi-Sapient Artificial Intelligence) program.

"Biotic" children now toddlers. Evidence of possible Telekinetic powers in those with Element Zero modules of extreme interest to Sol Protectorate. Birth rates of children infected with element zero begins to reduce rapidly so long after the war.

First 30ly/day Negative Mass Warp drive created by Virgin Galactic. Sol Protectorate buys several for the use of fast communication drones, and rapid response frigate flotilla's for distant Satellite colonies.

 **2129**

Keplerian population reaches 12 million. Previous quarantine procedures are lifted, though they remain on dedicated reserves on their homeworld, under the watchful eye of the AFS.

After meeting with the family of the sole survivor of Operation return to sender, Arthur Hargreave is declared KIA and moved to a secure facility on Freedom Reach's surface. There has been no change in his condition.

Interstellar "Extrasolar day" is celebrated across human space, marking the 60th anniversary of the first extra solar human colony.

Five years after the Keplerian war, the Sol Protectorate creates the MAD plan in secret. The creation of twelve Relativistic weapons in secret aimed at Epsilon Eridani, Tau Ceti, and the other four ready to be aimed at any point in space. The weapons are simply incredibly shielded EM drives that will accelerate to a significant percentage (0.7c) of the speed of light. An Impact from a relativistic weapon will cause incredible damage to a planet.  
The discovery of such weaponry may cause an inescapable arm's race that may well wipe out every habitable planet in human space. Indeed, since alien life has been confirmed to exist, there is amble evidence that other species may have already sent Relativistic missiles towards earth or other systems to wipe them out before they can launch their own weapons. These weapons are hidden and classified level 9.

 _ **2130**_

Captain Hannah Shepard is given command of the Tau Ceti cruiser class "Paint it black." It is one of the first cruiser class blinker warp CQC ships, though with cruiser heavy weapons and at least some long range weapons. It also has artificial gravity, rather than the previous centrifugal arms and "portrait" orientation

The Golden Hind (III), a ship of the Trailblazer© (Now a subsidy of Hargreave Aerospace), discovers an operational mass relay far to the galactic south (-331, 019. System of Cygni 902). The ship immediately high tails back to human space and reports on the information to the ASF.

The EENS Supercarrier "Gabriel" and 30 of it's escorts (Including the "Paint it black") head towards the relay in an attempt to lock it down.

Ship of unknown design, believed to be a drone, travels through the mass relay. Attempts to apprehend it are prevented, as the ship immediately returns back through the mass relay upon detecting the Supercarrier.

ESCR 2 (Emergency Standby Condition Report) declared in ASF. Sol Protectorate gets wind of this and sends a fleet to the system, spearheaded by the carrier "Jury".

Human population reaches 159 billion. Expected to continue to climb exponentially after the first successful Arcology created in Tokyo.

 _ **2131**_

Decision is made to send the ASF fleet through the mass relay whilst the Sol Protectorate fleet remains on standby.

ASF Fleet enters the Mass relay. On the other side of the relay they discover

 _ **An end to the past**_

 _ **1**_ _ **st**_ _ **January 2131**_

Shepard breathed in and out. At least the ASF were smart enough to only send ships with arti-grav through the relay, rather than risk every lurching forward on board a zero g ship.

She clenched her fist, then relaxed it.

12 hours ago, a drone of unknown make entered the system for 12 minutes. In that time, the Supercarrier "Gabriel" had been almost ready to open fire and launch it's fighters. Luckily, the drone quickly retreated back through the relay before another interstellar war broke out.

It was bad enough that the ASF and Sol Protectorate were in the same system. But at least if the entire fleet that travels through the relay got destroyed, at least they'd have someone ready to blow up the relay after they died.

Still, last time someone travelled through a mass relay and made first contact with an alien life they all died and the aliens attacked Earth.

Shepard briefly thought of the smiling Hargreave and Grahm, but pushed those thoughts aside. They died heroes, destroying a Keplerian dreadnought. Nothing more to think about.

She sat in her chair and stared at the holoscreen displaying the mass relay, as well as a link to a bunch of nearby Ships, including the supercarrier.

It was time.

"Set course for the Relay. Prepare for Relay travel and get weapons heated. Shields at maximum, secondary warp core online. I don't want us crippled if we find something on the other side." Shepard ordered. Her XO, Zachery Hutmier, nodded and repeated those orders to weapon control and engineering.

She leant back, placing on hand under her chin.

The ship speed on, overtaken by some of the lighter frigates. In total 32 ships would travel through the relay. 30 AFS ships and 2 Sol Proecterote vessels, the SNS Cruiser "Grave of the Fireflies" and Procyon Cruiser "Cicero".

They aligned perpendicularly to the relay, then the Supercarrier sent the request for a fleet transfer. Less chance of ships slamming into each other on the other side or being light seconds away from each other on the other side.

Shepard saw the all clear signal and suddenly the 32 ship strong fleet were moving at incredible speeds, zooming pass the mass relay.

She gulped, scratching her left fore arm quickly before the ship returned to realspace.

"Navigation, get the astro-navigation online, let's try and work out where in the galaxy we are. Get LADAR online ASAP. Weapons hot. Both Warp drives ready." Said Shepard, looking at each member of her crew in charge of each role respectively. She wasn't going to get caught off guard ever again.

"Sir, one unknown ship on LADAR. 400M long, 70 wide. No negative mass Perturbations, artificial gravity detected. Most likely a Mass Effect only ship. 50 light seconds out." Said Ensign Collins after a minute.

"Navigation, prepare a jump on my mark." Said Shepard. "Comms, get that information to the fleet."

"Aye sir." Said Lieutenant Dorin.

"Aye sir." Said Ensign Mbasa.

Shepard drummed her fingers on her chair, waiting for the command from on high. She hoped to god it was just a pirate doing something stupid like opening mass relays. She hoped it was a Keplerian ship that got lost trying to find Earth. She hoped it was anything other then a unknown alien craft. She hoped it wasn't

 _She heard it in her mind. It's screams of pain. It's contempt. It's superiority even in the face of death. It survived the power of breaking matter, how could it not survive a few magnetically accelerated pieces of tungsten._

She focused. It was dead. Destroyed. The Monolith was destroyed. It was never alive, so it could never die. It was glass, like most of the continent it resided on.

Nothing survived of that inanimate object.

"Message from command. We are to warp within 40km of the ship and attempt communication. "The Cicero", "Only Human", "Fortunate Son", "Bad moon rising" and "Grave of the Fireflies" will be joining us."

2 frigates and 3 cruisers plus their own. Could be worse.

"Prepare for warp in 5." Said Shepard.

She counted down, and almost immediately they appeared next to the ship. And It was a ship.

None of the organic like curves of the old Keplerian vessels, nor the long sharp lines of most Military human ships. This was bulbous, yet clearly artificial. If Shepard cou

Shepard sighed.

None of the other ships were making an attempt at communication, so she ran a hand down her face and began to broadcast on as many radio frequencies as she could.

"Unknown vessel, this is the TCNS "Paint it black". We are armed. We request that you send some form of reply and acquiesce to a few of us boarding your vessel. Any attempt to charge weapons, shields or attempt an retreat will be taken as an hostile action. We have a fleet guarding the relay. Please, do not do anything foolish." She said. She pressed an option on her holoscreen. "We are sending over first contact data via data signal. We can confirm there is no malware or anything that could damage your systems. Included is a dictionary of the most Common human language as well as numerical system. This message repeats."

Shepard sighed, and waited. Either the ship would fire at them, run, or try and sort out the information packet they just sent over. Either way, Shepard was ready.

"Ready the Laser Arrays, aim at it's midsection." She ordered. "Do not, under any circumstances, fire without my express orders."

She heard an aye sir, and return to staring at the viewscreen.

* * *

Shepard sipped her coffee. Turns out whoever ran this vessel was the studious type. Over...

She checked the time

43 minutes since they sent the data package and not a peek from the other ship. No rapid message on any channel they could trace, no change in the ship's mass to suggest it's readying it's FTL drive, nothing.

She drummed her fingers. Honestly, there was such a thing as building suspense, but if this was an alien invasion movie the ship would've done something by now.

Shepard was almost tempted to bring her gauss weapons offline. They were aimed at the ship, but they'd just come up against the ships shields. Best to save energy and just power the...

Her Holoscreen lit up. Incoming communication.

Oh shit.

"Comms!" She shouted.

"It's coming from the unknown vessel!" Shouted Ensign Mbasa.

"On screen." Said Shepard, straightening her uniform and fixing her best glare at the screen. She steeled herself, ready for whatever thing was on the otherside.

Her screen, previously filled with ship data and camera feeds, now showed only...  
An Alien.

It was a strange being. It's face was flat and large, with strange vertical flaps or something coming from what would be it's lips on a human face. It had hairless grey skin, with two beady black eyes set into it's face. Shepard could see it's shoulders almost next to it's head, suggesting almost no neck. She could only really see it from the head down, but if she had to guess it might walk like a gorilla, with two massive forearms.

"Tentative curiosity. This is the Elcor Government Exploration vessel "Wandering Far.". Cautious Pride. I am Captain Jarlyn. Worried appeasement. We have studied your first contact information, and would like to exchange one of our own. Please, allow us to transmit the information." Said Jarlyn, it's voice painfully monotone and synthetic. Perhaps it was a cyborg or something?

Shepard was too gobsmacked at the fact the Alien was actually speaking English, and by it's really strange speaking patterns, to notice the data transfer request. She smacked herself out of it quickly.

"DataSec. Make sure it's virus free before uploading it to our secure, separate server." Ordered Shepard, looking aside from the alien, before returning her gaze to the holoscreen.

"Captain Jarlyn. How are you speaking my language?" asked Shepard.

"Cautious pride. Our science team were able to decipher your language and install it to our translation implants." Said Jarlyn.

"Right." Said Shepard. She elected to ignore the weird method of speaking for now, especially if they were using auto-translation software. Human versions still had problems with their own languages, and god forbid you try and talk to a Keplerian.

"My orders still stand however Captain. My fleet has control of the mass relay and we are ready to fire. Until we can confirm your peaceful intentions, we must ask you to allow us to board your vessel and bring you to human space. Comply with these orders and no harm shall befall any of you and we'll send you back to your government in peace. Resist, and we cannot extend that guarantee a second time." Said Shepard resolutely.

"Fearfully. We understand. Our ship is unarmed, merely a recon vessel scoping out new worlds. We mean no harm to humanity." Said Jarlyn.

"I believe you Captain. But you understand we haven't had the best encounters with alien races." Said Shepard, briefly thinking of her many dead friends.

"Inquisitively. Oh? That does not sound like a good story." Said Jarlyn.

"No. It isn't..."

"Cautiously. I warn you Captain. We Elcor are not the only sapient species we have encountered. We may have others looking for us if we go missing. They may not be so kind."

Shepard clenched her fist.

"Is that a threat?" Asked Shepard coldly.

"Desperate Appeasment. No Captain. Merely a heads up."

Shepard turned aside and looked at Ensign Mbasa.

"Prepare a message for fleet command. We are boarding the alien vessel. Peaceful first contact. Possible multi-species alien civilisation." Shepard ordered.

"Aye sir." Mbasa replied.

Shepard sent the message for the shuttles to disembark. Finally, humanity might have a peaceful first contact with an alien race.

What could go wrong?

* * *

 _ **Ship naming structure-Circe 2130:**_

 _In general, whilst smaller colonial navies simply use poetic or single word names, the four most important systems in human space (Sol, Epsilon Eridani, Procyon and Tau Ceti) have distinct naming themes for their naval vessels_

Sol Capital ships:  
Incredibly famous Japanese fiction. Named since the first keel for the very first Star Carrier was nicknamed "Godzilla".

Sol Cruisers:  
Lesser known Japanese fiction. Shipbuilders in Sol are massive weaboos. (See section on Human culture)

Epsilon Eridani Carriers:  
Named after the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Plans for a fifth suggested the naming theme would/will turn into Archangels, as seen with the Supercarrier "Gabriel". The origins of this is unknown, as the intitial EE colonists did not have any greater religious leanings then typical.

Epsilon Eridani Frigates: Number one Songs (Excluding Vietnam war, see Tau Ceti)

Procyon Capital ships: Judge, Jury, Exectioner, Attorney, Arbiter. All named for parts of the criminal justice system. So named after Admiral Patronsky's previous job as a judge in Sol.

Procyon Frigates and Cruisers: Named after famous Lawyers.

Tau Ceti Ships: For reasons known only to the Tau Ceti naval service, every single Tau Ceti ship is named from what are referred to as "Vietnam war songs" from the 1960's, over a hundred years before the first TCNS ship was created.

* * *

 _ **Arcologies-Circe 2142:**_

 _"nations within buildings", these monstrously large, self sustaining skyscrapers are buildings designed to house Humanity's ever excessively growing population. With Hydrofarms, Nuclear fusion reactors and dedicated civil services such as hopsitals, police, government and sanitation, A fair percentage of humans may never leave the Arcology they are born in, working within the same place their whole life. In large cities such as New York, LA, London, Berlin, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong-Kong, New Oregon, Virgil, Freedom's reach, Eden, New Cittagaze or Neo-Tokyo, there are rail transit systems between Arcologies, meaning even those that work outside of their living building may never actually travel outside. These buildings are exceedingly common in the inner system post second contact, though outer colonies rarely have the population that makes arcologies necessary._

* * *

 _ **Epsilon Eridani- Circe 2153:**_

 _The first extrasolar colony ever created, Episilon Eridani- or Freedom's Reach is a human habitual planet in the Epsilon Eridani System some 10.42 ly from the human homeworld of Earth. It boasts a population of 13 billion people, the second highest GDP in human space and the seat of the Alliance of Free stars. The planet has some 23 different countries within it that are part of the EESA (Epsilon Eridani Stellar Alliance) which also includes smaller stellar nations within it's meteorite belt and some of the orbital stations. The system does not have a Mass relay, the closest is either Sol or Kruger, and as such has a small Alien population in comparison to Sol._

 _The largest nation, Sheng-he, was formed on October 23rd 2069, and is the oldest extrasolar country in human space._

 _Epsilon Eridani's relationship with the Sol Protectorate has deteriorated in recent years, with the system making overtures for claiming the Kruger Mass relay from them._

* * *

 _ **Ship classes-Circe 2130:**_

 _Corvette class: Sub 140m ships designed for rapid response and transport. Lightly armed typically with just Laser PDC's and two swivel Gauss cannons._

 _Frigate Class (Standard Pre Keplerian war): Between 140m and 250m in length, designed to move fast, travel light and act as escorts. Pre Keplerian designs typically only have a single warp drive, which limits how often they can utilise FTL. Armed with 50cal point defence guns, 6 swivel gauss guns, 2 missile pods and a single long spinal gauss cannon._

 _(Blinker Class/Post Keplerian War designs) 140m to 250m. Equipped with two warp drives to allow for rapid use of warp travel in system and during battle to get within "Knifefight" range. Armed with four swivel gauss guns and a large number of Laser Point defence arrays. Shields are remarkably weak designed to only take a few rounds._

 _Destroyer Class: Rare post Keplerian war design for a light, hyper long range frigate sized vessel. Armed with the expensive Negative mass warp missiles, three spinal mass effect acceleration cannons, Only one Warp drive and a dozen of light swivel gauss cannons. Only 10 exist due to expense of Element Zero, which can be used for Artificial gravity, as well as easy counters to long range space combat._  
 _170M to 280m._

 _Cruiser class: 250 to 490m in length. Armed with tough titanium armour and heavy shields, they sacrifice the mobility of Frigates for survivability, though Blinker Class cruisers do exist, though are rare. Typically armed with two spinal gauss cannons and 15 gauss cannons, as well as the typical laser point defence array._

 _Light Carriers: 290m to 450m. Cruiser Class size mixed with Carrier armament. Designed as the rapid response version of carriers, and carry considerable less fighters and drones. They have no long range weapons, only Laser defence arrays._

 _Carrier:540m to 600m. These are the capital ships of both the ASF and SolP. They sacrifice most long range weaponry for carrying enormous reserves of both drone and fighter craft. They also utilise the prototype "Disruptor" missile, which can pierce shields, though these are inordinately expensive, and slow, so rarely see combat use._

 _Super carrier: 1.3km-2km (Smallest current: PNS "Rule of Law". Largest: SNS "Reach Beyond Grasp (II).)_  
 _Super Carriers are the greatest in force projection in human space. Massive ships designed to drop off entire fleets of drones and fighter pilots, carry entire armies and act as mobile garrisons and stations, these are the pride and joy of every fleet. Due to the enormous expense of building and maintaining a super carrier, no system, not even Sol, has more than one._

 _The first super carrier was the TCN Stormfront, which was the smallest of her class,built in 2109, and destroyed in 2124. The next was the SNS Reach Beyond Grasp (1), which measured a 1km, the first military vessel to do so built in 2114, destroyed in 2124._

 _Dreadnought Class: Plans for a dreadnought class Starship based on the Keplerians own were leaked in 2129, but nothing has come of it. The enormous ship, the 1.7km long SNS "Armstrong's step" was designed to be a extreme long range vessel armed with two enormous spinal mass effect acceleration cannons, with extremely high tonnage. However, thanks to the enormous expense of such a ship and until a countermeasure to "Blinking" (The tactic of warping right next to large ships and using the point defence laser array to tear through them) has been developed, such plans have been put on ice._

 **Authors note:** _  
_

Despite the large time skips, we will be returning to the pre first contact humanity as needed. There are a few details we will need to cover and a few stories to tell from different perspectives, but for now Humanity has encountered the council. _  
_  
See you later

* * *

 _ **September 31st-2174  
50 years after the Keplerian war**_

Hargreave awakens, age 94.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Alcubierre  
Chapter Nine: Future waits for none**_

 _ **January 14**_ _ **th**_ _ **2131**_

Finally they were almost done. 12 days at Warp escorting one of the most boring Aliens Shepard had ever meet. Say what you will about the Keplerians, they were at least terrifying/spooky. These Elcor were just... Dull.

The fact that their appointed "Ambassador" (The son of the Captain of the vessel, still on their side of the Cygni 902 Relay.) was constantly shadowing Shepard, repeatedly asking her questions about the Negative Mass warp drive, about Humanity, about this and that.

Admiral Lossarion had ordered that the creation of Negative mass and the working of the Alcubierre drive were now top secret. That wasn't going to last long, seeing as you could download designs for shitty Alcubierre drives for free off most Systems internets, or buy decent ones from the same place.

Still, orders are orders.

"Curious. How long until we arrive at... Where did you say we were heading?" asked Carlyn, the "Young" (She couldn't tell) Elcor Captain Jarlyn had selected from his crew to serve as ambassador.

"Kruger Station."

Kruger station. Diplomatic hub of Human space. A large Station built in orbit of the Kruger Mass relay 3 years ago, she currently served as the gateway to the Keplerian Frontier or a quicker way to jump from Sol/EE/Tau/Procyon to the Wolf Relay.

It currently served as Neutral ground for the AFS, SolP, the Cult of Kek, New Canaan State, the borderless Fleet and the various minor independent systems that made up Human Space. It was a fucking mess. None of the Groups got along. SolP and AFS had bad blood stretching back decades, before either existed, New Canaan State were a bunch of.. Well, Religious Zealots was a bit harsh, but they were agitators in various conflicts across the Old Frontier. The Cult of Kek were completely nuts, based in a mineral poor and gardenworld less system simply because it was designated Wolf-777222, a Holy number. The Borderless fleet were a bunch of over Romanticised Pirates and Criminals on the run from any actual system laws, content to just warp their large fleet into systems just outside of official human space and strip mine planets.

Say what you will about AFS, that they were ran by a bunch of War criminals with no respect for their homeworld and desperate to distance itself from the place most of them were born, but they were at least a legitimate government. And sure, SolP were heading dangerous towards a military sponsored Hegemonic empire with Earth as the slave driver, but they at least pretended to care for the systems under their control, and weren't run by people that thought repeating integers were a sign of god.

"Trepidation. I have never served as an ambassador before. I am... Cautious about starting a intergalactic war." Said Carlyn.

Shepard shook herself out of her train of thought.

"Don't worry, we just got out of one, we aren't that desperate for another yet." Said Shepard.

"Recognition. Ah yes. The... Keplerian war?" Asked Carlyn, trying to remember what he was informed several days earlier about human history.

"That's the one." Said Shepard. She grabbed her Coffee from the arm of her Captain's chair a took a sip. "Still, we won that one."

"Appeasement. Do not worry. We Elcor do not want war." Said Carlyn.

"Good." Said Shepard. She had honestly no idea what a war with a bunch of Space Gorrila/Elephants would be like. Sure, Military spending had sky-rocketed since the Keplerian war, but upgrading the entire Fleet to Element Zero gravity systems and Laser PDC's was going to take time.

"Fifteen Minutes till Arrival Captain." Said Lieutennant Dorin.

"Excellent. Power down shields and weapons. Have Ensign Mbasa prepare docking request. Hopefully we don't have an army of Journalists when we land." Said Shepard, leaning back into her chair. She glance behind her shoulder, Carlyn still standing there right next to her. It was honestly a little creepy.

She could've been plotting entry trajectories, planning what she was going to say to the Assembly, drawing up plans for her shore leave. But she had twelve days in warp to do that. So, she loaded up her stored videos and started to play them on the holoscreen.

"This Summer."

Damnit. Fuck whoever programmed every video playing service to play adverts even when you weren't online.

"An Operation that defined a war. A fight forgotten. A battle lost."

Great. Holovid trailers. Sounded like another Glorified piece of crap on the Keplerian war. Probably Hollywood doing the Battle of Earth again, or RosenBridge doing the battle of Tau Ceti.

The vid showed that one actor, the one who always seemed to do military men, staring through a window into the void of space, the muffled sound of explosions being played over.

"Gentlemen. We have our orders. Though Kruger. Through their homeworld. We are the Vanguard." Said a voice over, done by the same actor.

Wait? No way.

"Based on a true story. Of the declassified documents of Operation Return to Sender." Said the generic voice over guy.

"We do this last mission, live or die, and the war is over." Said an English/Freedom's Reach accent. A man who...

Who looked almost exactly like Arthur, standing at the helm of a ship.

"Staring Christopher Garfunkel as Commodore Kazinsky. Gregor Kahn as Captain Jack Cobain. And John Harrison as Captain Arthur Hargreave."

"Coming this summer."

Holy shit. They were making a Return to sender Movie? I mean, fair enough. The story of how 30 brave frigates took down an entire Keplerian fleet at the expense of all their lives was prime movie material.

Shepard wondered what Hargreave would've thought of his portrayal. He always liked John Harrison. They were around the same age and both proud Epsilon Eridanians.

* * *

 _ **September 31**_ _ **st**_ _ **2174**_

 _As I become more present now...  
I can't see through the pain  
A hollow cut through my veins_

Bright white light.  
Terrible bright light.

Hargreave gasped for breath.  
His lungs filling with air for what felt like the first time in years.

He almost fainted again as he breathed in, darkness clouding the edges of his vision. But as he breath out, his vision finally began to settle.  
He slowly began to feel his extremities. Numb and dull pain throughout his limbs.  
He... Blinked.

Vision was slow to return. But as he did so, he observed his surroundings in greater detail.  
He was in a high tech hospital bed. Electrodes attached to his temple and chest, a cathode in...  
He looked at the screens opposite his bed.  
BPM 89  
Body temperature 36.9  
Respiration rate: 11 per minute  
Blood pressure: 114 Systolic 74 Diastolic

If he remember correctly from his crash course in field medicine that was... normal? Acceptable?  
Remembered.  
Remembered _Looking upon the face of god, starring..._

Hargreave clenched his eyes shut, blocking the thoughts.  
They... They weren't as they were back aboard Midnight City. The implant wasn't in his head. Was he yet free?

With his eyes shut, he drifted back into unconsciousness just as a nurse walked into his room.

* * *

 _ **January 14**_ _ **th**_ _ **2131**_

Shepard straightened out her dress blues she sat aboard the Cayman Shuttle.

Next to her were Carlyn, Two marines and another Elcor, armed with what Shepard could only guess was anti tank weaponry.  
Seriously, it was two enormous mass accelerator cannons strapped to it's shoulders.

Shepard breathed in and out. Whilst the press had been successfully kept away from the hanger they were going to land in, Shepard was still terrified of having anything to do with a first contact scenario. Last time humanity had one over 3 billion people died as a result.

"Cautiously. Captain Shepard. How many Representatives are here on "Kruger Station."?" Asked Caryln.

Shepard sighed.

"AFS, SolP, Kek, NCS, TBF... about 14 total representatives." Shepard replied.

"Apprehensively. That is... A lot of division." Said the Elcor.

"I... How on Earth are you Elcor united under a single government. Surely there are disagreements? And enough space between solar systems that division would just naturally occur?" Asked Shepard.

"Our colonies are united under the Elcor Concordant. We have no need to fight amongst ourselves." Said Caryln.

 _Huh. No emotion there._

"Well... We have only just discovered decent FTL communication and even that hasn't been widespread yet. We just threw colony ships out into the stars and let them deal with settling themselves, then we have a new trade partner after a few years. Hell, until recently the closest to an actual interstellar government didn't cover more then 3 systems and the odd small one they offered military support to." Said Shepard.

"Curious. And these systems are still divided by nation states?" Asked Carlyn.

"Yeah. I mean, if you were to read my Citizen ID, it'd read "Captain Hannah Shepard. AFS. Tau Ceti. Lyrae. Hephaeston. Virgil." Hephaeston being my nation on my planet of Lyrae, whilst Virgil is the city."

"Amazed. That is fascinating. We Elcor divide colonies by administrative sectors named after the planet plus a number. For example, I am from Corsua-4 in the Mesotro system." Said Carlyn.

"Oi! Shepard, stop doing Anthropology and get ready. Thirty seconds till landing!" Shouted her favourite shuttle pilot, Lieutenant Phil Collins.

Shepard stood up and gripped the hand rail above her head. She never liked sitting down in shuttles during landing. That killed McArthur during Operation Oppenheimer after all. Right next to her...

The shuttle shut off it's forward engines and relied on the bottom EM Drive for lift. Shepard felt a moment's weightlessness as the Artificial gravity aboard the shuttle shut off before she felt the station's own.

"Ambassador Carlyn. If you would allow me and the marines to disembark first." Shepard asked.

Rather then speak or bring anything up, Carlyn simply moved his face flaps.  
 _God I hope that's their equivalent of nodding._

And with that, the gull-wing door of the shuttle lifted open, and Shepard was meet with almost three squads of marines, their weapons at the ready, with an automatic ground sentry gun ready to open fire on the shuttle.

 _Just as well I went first.  
_ Shepard stepped out of the shuttle, her hands behind her head.

* * *

 _ **October 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **2174**_

"Arthur James Hargreave." Said the Doctor.  
"Doc." Hargreave replied simply, his voice tearing his throat apart, but he was intent on trying.

"We've ensured that you would be as fit as physically possible when you awoke from your... Extended coma. Exosuit exercises to keep your muscles strong. Numerous cranial implants to fix the damage caused by your... unfortunate surgery."

"New Left arm?" Asked Hargreave croakily.

"... uh. Yes. New left arm. You spent several weeks aboard the Midnight city and your arm had started to become infected by the time the autosurgeon started to shut down. Don't worry, it's a cloned limb. Good as new. If I might ask, what gave it away?"

"...Scar. Left forearm." Said Hargreave simply.

"Ah. Yes. Good to see your memory is still in tact. We hoped that the Greybox would sync with your old memories and it's good to get confirmation." Said the Doctor.

"How... Bad... Damage?" Asked Hargreave.

"... Well. Your Hypothalamus was torn apart trying to get to some of your implants. Your occipital lobe was similar damaged. Large parts of your temporal lobe were ripped out and you lost both eyes."

"Both... Eyes?" Asked Hargreave.

"Your ocular implants were torn out as well. I'm sorry to use the term "Torn out" but I'd never seen such sloppy work from a surgical procedure, even one from a autosurgeon over... Anyway, yes. We put new ones in pretty soon after we recovered you, though we have updated them roughly every ten years or so." Said the Doctor.

"How... Long?" Asked Hargreave. Hargreave's BPM and Respiratory rate began to increase. He implied that Hargreave had been under for... For at least two decades.

"Mr Hargreave... Considering your... state, it would not be wise."

Hargreave shot out of the bed, his eyes full of both fury and sorrow.  
"How. Long." He growled.

"Perhaps... I should answer the questions from here on out Doctor." Said a voice from the doorway.

Hargreave looked around the doctor to look at a man dressed in an impeccable suit. He had black, well trimmed hair.  
"Ah.. Of course. I will see my other patients. Sorry. I did not hear you made it to this site yet."

"That will be all doctor." Said the stranger. He had an American, or New Oregon, accent, and seemed to exude confidence and class.

"Yes sir." The doctor bowed out of the room, locking the door behind him.

* * *

 _ **13**_ _ **th**_ _ **January 2131**_

Shepard looked around the Kruger Assembly chamber. She had never seen it before and it honestly wasn't much. About 60 or so chairs in a round room, the chairs on different levels much like an university lecture hall or literally any other governmental parliament/senate.

Only nine of those chairs were filled, but the two main players were at least here.  
Ambassador Cassandra Maldov of the Sol Protectorate and Ambassador Julian Gregor for the AFS.  
In attendance too, were Christopher Moots the 3rd (Cult of KEK), Joseph Smith Dawson (New Canaan State), Commander Danni Moore (TBF), Sanji Adolrikson (Southern expanse Confederacy), Jack Holt ( _Sans Frontières_ ) and Chao-Xing Chen (Keplerian People Representative.).

"Ambassador Carlyn. As the elected Representative of the Alliance of Free Stars, we welcome you to Human Space." Said Julian Gregor.

And so the dick waving begins.

"As owners of this system, we here at the Sol Protectorate, the government of our homeworld, wish to ensure these talks are mutually beneficial for our respective government." Said Cassandra Maldov.

"Tentative Pride. Thank you Esteemed representatives." Said Carlyn.  
Shepard noticed the flinches and barely hidden surprise at the Elcor's sullen monotone voice.  
"I am Carlyn, temporary Ambassador of the "Wandering Far" and the Elcor Collective." Said Carlyn.

"Ambassador Carlyn. How are you speaking Chinese?" Asked Julian Gregor.

"Russian." Mumbled Cassandra.

"I am speaking through an auto translation software and implant." said Carlyn.

"I see. Is that why it's stating your emotions before your sentences? That is an interesting and helpful addition, seeing as we are unable to read your body language." Said Dawson.

"I am surprised you were able to modify the technology so quickly, seeing as I'm sure Elcor have intuitive body language they can recognise." Said Gregor.

"Cautiously. Modify? It is built into the translation software." Carlyn replied.

"That's strange. Surely you would only need that if you regularl... If you regularly communicated with other species." Whispered Cassandra, terror seeping into her voice.

Shepard watched as the marines on guard held their rifles a little more firmly.

"Ambassador Carlyn. Have the Elcor achieved first contact with another alien species before us." Said Gregor.

"...Yes." Said Carlyn.

"...This assembly is ajourned. Gregor. My office. Marines, escort Ambassador Carlyn to a secure cel for his own safety." Said Cassandra

The other representatives, except for the AFS rep began to argue, until the marines guarding began to raise their rifles at them.  
 _What the hell is going on._

"Captain. Follow us." Said Gregor.

Caryln... Well, Shepard guessed he looked shocked at the sudden change in tone. And so was Shepard. So what if the elcor made first contact before.

* * *

"Auto Translating implants. We've seen this once before. And we all know where that ended." Said Gregor.

"I doubt it's the same. But we can't take that chance. We know the telltale signs in humans and Keplerians but this is a potential unknown." Said Cassandra.

Gregor ran a hand down his face.

"We are at risk as long as he remains on this station." Said Gregor.

"Um... Sorry, sir, maam, but what exactly is the problem?" Asked Shepard.

The two of them looked at her, as if only just now remembering she was there, which was weird, since they sent out the armed guard but let her into Cassandra's office.

"Captain Shepard. How much do you know of Operation Return to sender?" Asked Gregor.

Shepard looked quizzically at him.

"I've read the report. 30 brave ships tearing apart a Keplerian fleet at the expense of..."

A holographic projection lit up in front of her and she was face to face with a tired and terrified looking Arthur Hargreave.

"I don't know how much time I've got left, so I've swallowed some Amnestics which should kick in once I've finished recording this." Said Hargreave. Shepard eyes widened. The date and time on the screen read 7:43 13th September 2124.

"Let me..." Hargreave clutched his head. "This... This is Captain Arthur James Hargreave of the ESNS Midnight City. I.. this entire crew."

Shepard was shocked. This wasn't the cool and collected, occasionally blasé Hargreave. This man was terrified of something.

"We are all implanted with technology we don't understand. It... It's controlling us. We are it's thralls. Thralls for a machine god." Said Hargreave, spouting insanity as if it was blatant fact.

"Let me explain... Let me understand. We are under the control of an unknowingly powerful machine known as... A reaper. We haven't seen it yet, but when we do... Who knows how bad we'll get." Hargreave blurted. "We have no free will. Even now I speak because that reaper is allowing me to talk. It's not busy with the other thousand or so men and women indoctrinated, it just doesn't care."

Hargreave stared at the camera, unblinking for a few seconds.

"These... Implants, translate what the Keplerians say into whatever language we understand and think in. Our mother tongue. Just think about how advanced that is. They worked on humans mere hours after we first met them. Grahm can attest to that. They aren't Keplerian tech. Hell, none of their technology is their own. They were gifted it by that benevolent machine god..." Hargreave tore at his temple, slapping it constantly for almost a full minute, before he returned to look at the camera, his eyes dead.

"It is too late for me. For us. But I leave this as a warning. The Keplerian Technology... It's not theirs. And those who created it can control us. We breath and live for it now. We are it and it is us." Said Hargreave. "And these Reapers. I have touched it's terrifying mind. They are everywhere. In the galaxy. They cleansed it in fire over and over and over..."

"We have opened pandora's box. Who knows how many other species, other civilizations out there are under their control. I know I am." Said Hargreave. He breathed deeply for a few seconds. "All right. Amnestics are kicking in. Should wake up about midday. Won't remember a thing. I leave this warning to the whole of humanity. We are fucked. We will all die. Every alien is indoctrinated, and soon so shall we. Thousands have fallen before the reapers. And we will fall too. Trust no one. Believe nothing. Good luck."

The message cut to static.

Shepard let a single tear fall. All it was a lie. Hargreave didn't die in glorious battle. Neither did Grahm, or Franklin, or Sarah, or Killi. They... they were dead the moment they accepted to be implanted.

"We've verified almost everything Hargreave said from the audiologs of the other ships. No one died in Operation return to sender except for those killed by their own crew. We found them all. All... Broken." Said Cassandra.

Shepard was utterly speechless. That thing on Cygnius wasn't some advanced military base. It... Is was...Something else.

"Captain. If Carlyn is telling the truth and his species has made contact with other alien civilizations and they have the same auto translation software... They... We can't risk our security like that." Said Gregor.

"How many." Said Shepard.

"I'm sorry?" asked Gregor.

"How many of them are dead now." Said Shepard, too stunned to emote fully.

Gregor sighed.

"All of them. We had to put them out of their misery." Cassandra replied.

Gregor flinched slightly but nodded.

"Shepard. Carlyn trusts you. We need to know the origin of that translation implant. If.. It is has anything to do with an ancient alien race, anything at all... Terminate him, then deliver the order to the fleet at the new relay to prepare for war."

"Sir... there has to be."

"Captain. Both the AFS and SolP are aware of the threat of Reaper indoctrination. Three months of implants crippled an entire fleet of some of our best captains and soldiers. One small civilization indoctrinated almost destroyed Earth. If... Carlyn is correct, then there are several possible indoctrinated civilizations." Said Gregor.

"And they are a direct threat to Earth and every single human being alive today." Said Cassandra. "Shepard. You have your orders."

* * *

 _ **1**_ _ **st**_ _ **October 2174**_

"Sorry to have this interview so soon, but I was within the home sector when I got the call and I am still attached to your case." Said the man. If it had been any other person, any other tone, he'd say it was rambling. But it was too precise for that. Too methodical. The man sat down as Hargreave squinted, developing a firm mental picture.

6'1. Salt and Pepper hair, which meant at least forty biologically, which meant probably about 100 plus years old. Carefully maintained suit clear made of some kind of nano filament material. Most likely bullet proof. Blue eyes, unmodified, or at least subtle modifications. In shape but not a soldier.

Some kind of special Agent if Hargreave guessed. EEIS most likely if he was on Freedom's Reach, though that was up in the air.

"I suppose introductions are in order. I am Agent Jack Harper of E... Of the EEIS." Said Jack as he sat in the chair on the left of Hargreave's bed.

Hargreave internally smiled, he guess correctly. Outwardly it was too exhausting and painful to smile.

"I understand you have a few questions you are more then likely in too much pain to ask. I am going to be straight with you. The doctor said I should cushion the blow, but I'm on a tight schedule Mr Hargreave."

That didn't sound good.

"Today's date is the 1st of October 2174. You have been in a coma just short of fifty years. The first to do so and wake up actually. So congratulations." Said Harper.

Hargreave began to sweat. Fifty... Fifty years? There had to be some kind of mistake.

"Stay awake Hargreave. I am not repeating myself." Said Harper. Hargreave barely felt the hypodermic needle embed itself in his left arm.

"What... s..." Hargreave mumbled.

"Adrenaline mixed with nanites. Should stop you from going unconscious. I've got a defib ready for the side effect." Said Harper, talking about invasively injecting him like it was a day at the office.

"You have been kept alive for a single purpose Hargreave. I am going to ask you a serious of questions and perform a brain scan. Answer these questions promptly and as eloquently as you can. Failure to do so will end in your termination."

 _What the hell is going on  
_  
Stay calm. You've been trained for this Hargreave.

"You see a broken child's toy. It is made of mechanical parts, and you believe you can put it back together before the child discovers the damage. In the course of fixing the toy, you cut yourself slightly. What is the risk?"

"Tetanus. Spreading diseases to.. kid." Hargreave said, his voice as coarse as sand.

Without even a nod or any sort of acknowledgement, Harper moved onto the next question.

"What is a circle?" Asked Harper.

"Round shape." Hargreave replied.

"You are told about a conspiracy to undermine the life of a childhood bully. Do you prevent them from doing anything, allow it to occur without doing anything to help, or do you aid in the conspiracy." Asked Harper.

"...I say "I understand" and do nothing." Hargreave replied.

Hargreave watched the slightest movement of Harper's facial muscles, but he immediately continued.

"A colonial Farmer says that there are few crops to harvest this year. Is that a good or bad thing?" Asked Harper.

"Depends... How lazy." Said Hargreave wearily. He began to grit his teeth. He heard something, something only just within his hearing range, a low buzz.

"Last one Mr Hargreave. You are asked to store a radioactive object for 3 weeks. How do you keep it safe and secure?" Asked Harper.

 _God... Damn. Fucking throat is going to hurt._

"Lead box. Geiger counter on me at all times." Hargreave replied.

"..." Harper turned to look at the screen next to Hargreave's head, which had various electrodes coming out of it, connected to Hargreave's temples.

Harper pulled out a gun and placed it against Hargreave's bare chest.

* * *

 _ **January 13**_ _ **th**_ _ **2131**_

"Worried gratitude. Shepard. It is good to see a familiar face here. I did not mean to..." Carlyn began to say.

Shepard turned and looked at the two guards within the cell with them.  
"That will be all." She said simply. The two guards nodded and left her alone with Carlyn.

"I don't know what I did wrong." Said Carlyn. Shepard noticed once again he didn't emote that time.

"It's... We've just got out of a war with aliens and... No. Carlyn. I need you to be honest with me right now. If you lie, or obfuscate the truth there will be dire consequences for all of us." Said Shepard with a sigh.

"Fearfully. I understand Shepard." Said Carlyn.

"Carlyn. Where did that translation implant come from?" Shepard asked.

"... Confused...My translator? What does that..." Carlyn asked.

Shepard slammed a fist onto the table.

"Answer the question Carlyn." Said Shepard.

"Terrified. Our Translator is an Asari device created over one thousand years ago. We speak this way because we emote using pheromones and subtle eye moments as opposed to inflection." Said Carlyn.

"Where did these... "Asari" get the designs?" shouted Shepard.

"Fearfully. I don't... they made them." Said Carlyn. "Terrified bazzlement. What is this about?"

"I'll take over the interrogation from here Captain Shepard." Said a American accented voice. Shepard turned around, to see a Young man, with carefully groomed black hair and a intricate suit, enter the cell with her and Carlyn. "EEIS Agent Jack Harper." He said, showing Shepard his ID card.

"I.." she Began.

"It's quite simple Captain Shepard. We've been testing a interrogation methodology to work out if someone is indoctrinated and we need a new control group. An Alien should prove quite interesting." Said Jack, calmly placing a suitcase onto the table. He started to place electrodes against Carlyn's skull and look at a holographic display being projected that Shepard couldn't understand.

"Curious. Indoctrinated?" Asked Carlyn.

"I'm afraid this is classified Shepard. The guards will escort you out." Said Harper, as a single female guard placed her hand on Shepard shoulders. She spared a sympathetic glance towards Carlyn, before allowing herself to be escorted out of the cell.

"Ambassador Carlyn. You see a broken child's toy..."

* * *

 _ **October 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **2174**_

Harper stared at the screen for a few seconds, his finger resting on the trigger guard.

"Shoot. If you are going to." Said Hargreave wearily.

Harper squinted at the screen. Then he began to holster his pistol.

"Remarkable." Said Harper.

Hargreave raised his eyebrows. What the hell was...

"That, Mr Hargreave, was a perfected Test of indoctrination. Tested on hundreds of indoctrinees and control groups. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being zero Reaper influence and 10 being a thrall, you scored a 3. Considering that most of the survivors of operation Return to Sender scored at least an 8, it seems fifty years within a coma and having large portions of your brain replaced with cybernetics has... Alleviated your indoctrination." Harper Explained.

"I..."

"Well Mr Hargreave, I'm afraid our experiment fifty years in the running has concluded. Good day." Said Harper, he began to remove the electrodes from Hargreaves head, quickly glance towards the monitor then leave the room.

"What...What about..." It was too much for Hargreave. He'd lost..So  
Blackness and silence came easy to the weary man, and he fell back into the comfort of unconsciousness.

* * *

 _ **January 14**_ _ **th**_ _ **2131**_

"We apologise for our treatment of you Ambassador Carlyn." Said Cassandra. They were back in the Kruger Assembly, a few more representatives joining them today.

"Confused. I still do not fully understand why... But I can forgive and move on." Said Carlyn.

"Ambassador Carlyn. We understand that your species is part of a wider galactic civilization known as "The Citadel Council." Is this correct?" Asked Gregor, though Shepard weirdly got the feeling he already knew the answer to that question.

"Correct." Said Carlyn simply.

"And they are a peaceful collective representative government?" Asked Cassandra.

"Ecstatically. Absolutely. We have no harmful intentions towards a young species such as your own." Said Carlyn.

"Bar the security measures we took with you and your ship, we haven't blasphemed or committed some great heresy have we?" Asked Joseph Smith Dawson.

"...Cautiously. There is a single matter. We travelled through the Mass Relay heading towards your system of Cygni-902 because it had already been activated. Activating Mass Relays without checking what is on the other side first is a serious crime." Said Carlyn.

Their was a palpable hush over the assembly.

"That's impossible. The ship that discovered the Mass Relay reported it already functional. The Relay is outside of our human sphere of influence." Said Cassandra. "No human would dare open a Mass Relay. We live in fear of first contact."

"No Citadel species would dare activate a primary relay, for just such a reason." Said Carlyn.

Shepard though over the consequences of what Carlyn was saying. Last time humanity had activated a relay it had started an interstellar war.  
No one would be that crazy or stupid right?

"Lets push aside that for now Ambassador. I swear, I'll have our Intelligence services investigate probable cause for the relay's activation. But I would be honoured if we could send some of our Ambassadors to meet this Citadel council and formally greet them." Said Gregor. "Captain Shepard would be honoured to follow you to your homeworld."

Oh fuck. Not another god-damn...

"Elated. I could not think of a better Captain. We will discuss integration into Citadel society and a new dawn for both humanity and the Elcor." Said Carlyn.

"Excellent. Well Ambassador Carlyn, once we have gathered our diplomats, we shall send our fleets orders back with you and escort you back to your...Citadel." Said Gregor.

"So say we all. The Alliance of Free Stars and the Sol Protectorate will send Dimplomats with the fleet." Said Cassandra.

Shepard watched the fascinating political display. The lesser representatives, such as the Sans Frontieres, the Cult of KEK or NCS didn't argue with this, but the Southern Expanse, Borderless fleet and the Keplerian people Representative leaned forward.

"As will the Southern Expanse Frontier, the Keplerian People Representative and the borderless fleet." Said Cassandra.

The borderless fleet? Those up-jumped dirty pirates...

"Excellent. I suppose you wish to return to your people as soon as possible Ambassador Carlyn?" Asked Gregor.

"Joyfully. Indeed. Thank you. I am honoured to have meet you." Said Carlyn.

Shepard took that as her que, saluting and leading the elcor out of the assembly room.

* * *

"Well, glad that's over." Said Shepard as she leant against the walls of the shuttle, heading back towards the "Paint it black".

"Exhausted. Indeed. I must say, time seemed to pass very quickly." Said Carlyn.

Shepard raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" She asked.

"Confused. Indeed. Apparently we have been off the ship for 19 hours, but I just remember landing and giving my two speeches at the assembly." Said Carlyn.

"Wait, what about..." Shepard tailed off. The fucking bastards had interogated Carlyn for 12 hours and then dosed him with Amnestics to make him forget? Those fuckign sons of...

Shepard then noticed something else.

"Where's your bodyguard?" Asked Shepard.

If it could be believed, Carlyn seemed to develop a even more blank look on his face.

"He wanted to stay and discuss cultural integration. I authosied it." Said Carlyn, once again not using emotional inflection.

"What?" Asked Shepard.

"He is safe. He wanted to stay behind."

Shepard knew her government and Sol had done some dark shit. Just look at Yellowstone or the fall of Santiago. But kidnapping a member of an envoy's entourage and then brainwashing that ambassador was beyond dark. What the hell where they playing at.

She looked to one of her marines, and pretended to notice his grip had subtly changed on his assault rifle.

 _Don't stir the boat Shepard. It will not end well for you._

"We are exalted." She barely heard Carlyn whisper.

She was going to have words with high command when she got the next chance. But for the sake of her species, she would keep quiet about what she knew. For now.

* * *

 _ **Codex:  
**_ _Sans Frontières-Circe 2131:  
_ _A small group of Doctors, Mercenaries, Engineers, Scientists, Terraformers and traders that support lesser colonies throughout the edges of Human space. They are extra governmental voluntary force, but because of their contribution to human colonies they have gained a seat in the Kruger Assembly._

 _ _New Canaan State-Circe 2134:  
__ _A religious democracy created by the church of latter day saints. They escaped the declining environment of earth to find a colony far to the galactic west of Sol. Population: 63.1 million._

 _ _Southern Expanse Confederacy-Circe 2132:  
__ _A loose Confederacy of six southern colonies created in the early 2100's. They are currently suffering a economic slump due to the destruction of their three negative mass Colliders slowing trade and growth inside the confederacy. They may not survive the post citadel political world, especially with increasing concessions to the AFS. Population 2.4 billion._

 _ _Carcosa -Circe 2145:__

 _A colony located in the far galactic south of human space not affiliated with the Southern Expanse or any large extra-system government. A wet world with many swamps and bayous stretching from the equator to quite far towards the poles. Established in 2125. Population has not sent in a census report since their creation._

* * *

 _ **Authors note:**_

 _ _From now on we will see a split in the story, following Humanity's contact and dealings with the Citadel in 2131, as well as with Shepard herself and her story, whilst Chapters marked "Alcubierre NEO-TOKYO" will follow Hargreave's future starting from 2174 and ending just before... Well, the sequel.__

* * *

 _ _ **February 13**__ _ _ **th**__ _ _ **2177**__

Hargreave stared out of the window of his two room apartment. 3 years on the run had lead him here, a false name, a false past.  
He stared across the Neo-Tokyo skyline, watching the millions of cars and motorbikes criss-crossing the insane multilevel road network. The most overpopulated city in human space, where space was a premium and human lives were not.

He took a swig of Vodka, clenched his teeth and set the glass down on his metal desk before running a hand through his shoulder length steel grey hair. He watched as a transport ship, likely Elcorian, hung above the city, it's lights the closest thing to visible stars in the polluted city sky.

His motorbike "Leathers", in actual fact cheap black non-newtonian liquid armour, hugged his body tightly. He wore a woollen coat over it. Heating in his apartment had been busted for the last four days and it got pretty fucking cold 2.3 km above ground level, whatever constituted that is this city.

His omni tool began to ring and vibrate. He pressed the spinning icon and placed a finger against his ear.

"Joshua Grahm." Hargreave answered.

"You better get to work. We've got a double homicide. Pressly has a car out front ready to pick you up. " Said his boss.

"On it chief." Hargreave replied, before pressing his ear twice, ending the call.

He took another swig of Vodka, opened his desk and drew his predator Element zero pistol, holstered it and made his way out of his room.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Alcubierre:  
Chapter 10: Third Contact**_

 _ **January 31st 2131**_

Mass relay transit at least got a lot easier with the prevalence of Artificial gravity. Less of everything on the ship not bolted down flinging forward along with anyone not Magbooted down and holding onto something. Still, it was bizarre.  
Shepard hadn't been a frequent user of Mass Relays. Humanity had only used three so far, Kruger, Wolf and Cygnius.

And she was mostly on anti-Pirate operations in Colonial fringe space.

Still, here she was, somewhere else entirely.

She saw the fleet IFF's, the Supercarrier, and the 29 other escorts. Still waiting on the far side of the Mass Relay ready to destroy the Elcor ship if they received the order.

They would not receive that order. Not today.

Shepard immediately sent a signal towards the elcorian ship.

"Gleefully. I can't wait to tell Fat... Hesitant pause. Captain, about our successful trip." said Carlyn.

Shepard couldn't help but shudder. How much of what Carlyn said was really his own thoughts, and would the other Elcors remember the other Elcor they sent. Just what on Earth possessed the Kruger Assembly to do that.

"This is Captain Shepard of the Paint it Black. Requesting to rendezvouses with your ship." said Shepard.

"Bluntly. Captain Shepard. This is Captain Jarlyn. Message received, preparing docking procedures. Curiously. Is my son okay?" Asked Jarlyn.

"He's perfectly fine Captain, he will re-board your ship shortly." Said Shepard.

"Pleased. Excellent. Over and out." Said Jarlyn.  
The message cut off.

"Carlyn, if you could please make your way to one of the docking ports. Lieutenant Forsell will take you there." Shepard suggested, pointing to Lieutenant Forsell, a Tau Ceti Marine Lieutenant.

Carlyn nodded and began to lumber over to the Marine Lieutenant and the two of them left the command deck.

Shepard immediately sent out a priority one message to the Supercarrier Gabriel.

Shortly thereafter Admiral Lossarion appeared on her screen.

"Captain."

"Admiral. Sir, we are to follow the Elcorian vessel towards it's homeworld and establish contact with the Elcorian Government." Said Shepard, relying her orders.

"I've been informed of this. Rest assured, we have prepared the crew of the Elcorian vessel for any changes that may have occurred over at Kruger. Our agents are thorough." Said Lossarion.

That sent chills down her spine.

"Yes sir." Said Shepard.

She ran a hand through her hair. How on Earth could he know about the missing bodyguard? How could he have possibly prepared for that? Just what was going on?

"Captain, we are preparing to send over a shuttle to the Elcorian vessel." Said

"Understood. Once they are aboard we shall plan our route to their system." Said Shepard.

She pushed such thoughts to the back of her mind. It would do her no good to worry about some grand conspiracy considering that she was on the verge of official first contact with an alien species.

She saw Carlyn off her ship and keep a safe watch as the shuttle returned to the Elcorian vessel, before after a quiet five minutes another communication request came through from Admiral Lossarion. She gulped and hoped to god it wasn't the order she was fearing. After all, the fleet still had their guns trained on the vessel.

To her surprise and quiet relief, it was a fleet wide vid conference, which was also showing the strange alien face of the elcor she assumed was Captain Jarlyn, though she couldn't truly tell him apart from other elcors.

"Joy. My son has told me much about his time aboard your vessel and your space station. He spoke highly of your ships speed considering the vast distance it had to travel." Said Carlyn. "Seriously. I will show send you the navigation data to our homeworld. We will have to jump through three mass relays and I believe it should take roughly [98 Earth standard hours]."

"Rest assured Captain, we have enough provisions on board our ships to last for months, and the means aboard my vessel to grow more as needed. We are ready to depart immediately." Said Lossarion assuredly just as the Nav data came through. Shepard immediately sent it to her ship's navigator.

"Relief. Excellent. We were worried about feeding you considering the chance of illness from eating alien food not meant for your species consumption." Said Carlyn blandly.

"We shall depart within the hour, we have to make some final checks and I am quite sure you must do the same." Said Carlyn.

"Indeed. We will release the blockade around the mass relay when you are ready Captain." Said Lossarion.

Shepard sighed in relief as she watched her fleet data screen showing most of the close range laser PDCs shutting down or no longer aiming directly at the Elcor vessel.

As so, she to began barking orders at her crew, ready to go further then any human vessel had ever gone.

* * *

The elcor insisted on waiting in system, in orbit around a large gas giant, before making the final push through the mass relay towards the elcor homeworld.

They had travelled through two mass relays so far and had travelled several thousand light years. At this moment they were the most distant humans from Sol, or indeed any human colony.

In three days they had travelled a distance that might take an Alcubierre drive almost a year to do. It was insanity. And stranger still, these systems they had travelled through were both sparsely populated and rarely travelled. They had only encountered a few other vessels. Two elcor frigates had joined the fleet as escorts, and what the Elcors called a "Quarian mining ship." had left system almost as soon as they had arrived in one. The Elcors hadn't paid them much mind, but they did inform the Captains of the fleet about who they were.

And that had left the fleet a little worried. It seemed not every alien encountered was part of this "Citadel Government" and the Quarians were now aware of their presence. And apparently they had a fleet that almost dwarfed every other in the galaxy. It was decided, privately between the human fleet captains to gather as much intelligence on this possible threat as they could, and not just what their tour guides were willing to tell them.

Still, it was a fairly easy assignment for now. Tail an incredibly slow ship. It was what was waiting for them on the other side of this relay that had them scared. First contact. Apparently the entire Citadel council and representatives from every species were there on the Elcor home-world waiting for them. Shepard had discharged the trained ambassadors she had brought from Kruger Station onto the EENS Gabriel and had boarded the ship for a private meeting between the high ranked in the fleet and the Admiral.

"Attention!" Shouted a Marine NCO as she stood ramrod straight. The assembled Captains and officers followed suit.  
Admiral Lossarion walked into the conference room, discussing the contents of a document of some kind he was looking at with an assistant, who was carrying several identical copies of it. He didn't even look up before saying "At ease".

The men and women, including those not officially under his command relaxed and sat back into chairs around the massive round table, their assistants standing behind them with their hands behind their backs.

"Officially, all of you are merely escorts for my vessel, and my vessel is simply a mode of transport for our illustrious ambassadors who will be doing all of the talking and fact finding." Said Lossarion as the assistant he was previously talking to handing out the paper documents she was carrying, one to every man or woman sat at the table.

Shepard glanced down at her document before Lossarion spoke again.

"Unofficially. Orders from all our respective governments, Sol Protectorate, AFS, whatever, is that we are to go fact finding. Each of us, bar five ships that I will rotate out are to go on "Diplomatic missions" to some of these alien colonies. Should you happen to end up in "Non Council space", well, you were just exploring." Said Lossarion.

He held up the document.

"This is all of the information we have managed to gather on the Aliens. Their main government is the Citadel council, at is to them we will be making our most obvious overtures. However, there are others. A government called "The Batarian Hegemony" is kicking up a stink about the council continuing to outlaw slavery, and we are going to be making some peaceful overtures towards them for our own protection." Lossarion explained. "Similarly, some of you, will be heading into what the locals call the "Terminus systems" and sucking up to every warlord and corporation that owns a planet out there."

"You will be under "Advisement" by several intelligence agents. Unless I order otherwise, they are in charge of what your ship is doing, where it is going, what you say and who you say it to. This is a priority one order from the ASF and SolP. I expect it to be carried out." Said Lossarion.

Several hands raised, though Shepard, knowing just how deep these intelligence agencies ran and having previously worked with EEIS and her own governments service, wisely kept quiet.

"This is not negotiable." Said Lossarion firmly, glaring at those that had raised hands. "I know you have your misgivings, but we are not going to risk another Kepler war because we weren't smart enough to make alliances."

"I thought our policy was going to be isolationist." Said Rear admiral DuFran. He was in charge of the second largest ship in the fleet, PNS Jury. His fleet, which had previously been guarding the relay on the human space side had joined the diplomatic fleet in order to "Show the colours" and to ensure the Sol Protectorate had equal representation.

"Thank you DuFran." Said Lossarion with an nasty tilt. "Yes. In case you guys hadn't got the memo there is absolutely no way we will be joining this "Council." we will ask for rights to the Orion arm, a place that they with their slower FTL drives cannot hope to colonise, and then we will be leaving them well enough alone as much as we can."

"The problem, is that inevitably trouble will find us. At some point they are going to build their own alcubierre drives. At some point they are going to start some war near our turf, or we are going to want something they have or, as all of you know, the Reapers are going to arrive and try and succeed in wiping us all out."

You could hear a pin drop. Yes, everyone had a rough guess that the "reapers" existed. Hell, even the average civilian could point to the mysteriously missing colony ships, increased black budgets and the glassed part of the Keplerian homeworld and join the dots. Shepard had heard Hargreave's terrifying confession but even before that she had those... voices in the back of her head, same as anyone during operation Oppenheimer.

But to hear an admiral, one of the highest ranking in human space, declare so bluntly that at some point humanity was going to go extinct was quite a shock, even for her.

"So, we need allies. Or at least, people willing to work with us when the next galactic fuck up occurs. Or at least, willing to work with SolP and AFS when some new upstart human governments decides they should be ruling. And you can bet those Pirates in the Borderless fleet are going to start raiding in Citadel space at some point."

The room was dead silent.

"So, are my orders clear?" Asked Lossarion.

Several captains mumbled their affirmations, Shepard included.

"AM I CLEAR!" He shouted.

The entire table fell over themselves in approval of Lossarion's orders. Though obviously even he was under orders from some higher power. Someone with power over both the SolP and AFS at any rate.

"Good. You'll have your individual orders once we arrive at this "Citadel". Until then, leave the diplomacy to the diplomats. Dismissed." Ordered Lossarion. "Except for you, Captain Wells, Captain Shi, Captain Jackson and Captain Aulani."

Shepard nodded and left the conference room, intensely reading her intelligence document.

* * *

The big day. Shepard, for her part in escorting "Ambassador" Carlyn to Kruger had been allowed to be a part of the ceremony on Dekula whilst the rest of the fleet stayed a respectful distance away from planetary orbit. Though Shepard knew that every single ship in the fleet was primed and ready to warp in orbit and begin firing on the honestly quite large fleet the citadel had brought with them.

Most terrifying of all had been the enormous 2km tall dreadnought "Destiny Ascension". Apparently at least she was brand new. But the fact that the Citadel had the resources to create an actual dreadnought with an enormous mass effect cannon spoke volumes of their power. The fact she was one of a kind did little to abate those fears.

Still, Shepard stood there, next to Admiral Lossarion and Rear Admiral DuFran, and looked across the crowd gathered in front of pavilion.

They were in a square in what was reportedly the capital city of the Elcor homeworld. The buildings were fairly small, compared to the enormous mega-structure arcologies that dotted human space. The rather intense gravity was also fairly noticeable, but Shepard had been space faring most of her life and was both used to and modified to be able to work in all gravities that might reasonably be expected. Humans weren't overly scared of inhabiting larger planets if they could support life, preferring to modify the colonies via augmentations and genetic modification then to leave a garden planet alone. They were still unpopular destinations to live on though.

Indeed, it seemed the citadel council and their retinue were having more trouble than the humans. The three strange alien races were at a place of high honour in the pavilion, and they way the elcor deferred to them despite the fact they were the ones that made contact and the fact that this was their fucking homeworld spoke volumes about the kid of power they could demand.

Shepard studied these strange aliens.

The first, and from what information the report she had been given said, perhaps the most dangerous, was a strange almost amphibian race. They had large dark coloured eyes set into rather small heads. They had strange skin horns poking out of the top of their heads. The one before them was dressed in a strange mix between a burka and a three piece suit, it's red brown skin only visible on it's face.

Then there was the larger one. Bony plates across it's face that moved with every breath, inside it's mouth were small sharp teeth. It had beady blue eyes. It was about 7ft tall, and was wearing what almost looked like hard ceramic armour inter sped with bolts of cloth running across it's body, a brilliant and colourful display of deep reds and dark purples. It was the one making the most furtive glances towards us humans.

And then finally, was the most ridiculous one. A blue woman.

Alright, it was slightly more alien than that. For starters, it did have no hair, instead out of the back of it's head it had strange tentacle like things that folded down the skull and ending two inches above the neck.  
It had a rather form fitting dress on, though it was at least covering a lot of skin. It reached all the way down to the floor, but did not go beyond it.  
Admiral Lossarion was looking at her furtively and with a little pre-emptive fear. It seemed he personally thought that these "Asari" were the most dangerous.

The oldest species in Citadel space and happened to look just like humans, with lives measure in several centuries, they were too close to be human for his liking. Or at least Shepard assumed. He didn't seem smitten with her, unlike a unfortunate grunt who couldn't hide his puppy eyes even behind his helmet

Shepard turned away from her staring and focused on looking forward, her arms behind her back.

The speech was a rather boring one, and despite swearing she'd try and listen to what would likely be an historic speech she couldn't. Something about mutual cooperation and inviting new neighbours. The Asari's translator was playing up for them, seeing as they had only sent the data on the English language to the Elcor, not them.

But it ended soon enough, with the bipedal aliens clapping politely and the Elcor stomping their front feet on the ground, something that Rear Admiral DuFran almost joined in with were it not for a rather sharp glare from Lossarion which soon turned into a polite clap. Shepard half heartedly joined in, but soon enough an army of Asari and Salarians started herding them and the council off the pavilion and into what Shepard assumed was a luxury shuttle.

As she climbed into the shuttle behind the two admirals she felt herself lighten. It was insane. They were bothering with lowering the gravity of the vehicle's interior in atmosphere? How wasteful were they? Element Zero was expensive as crap back home, comparable with Negative mass. But at least Negative mass could be (Read: Only) produced artificially. Element Zero required harvest the stellar dust from dead stars.

It was a shame Arcturus blew up, that might've had a little Element zero in it.

Still, it was wasteful, but hardly unwanted as Shepard and DuFran relaxed into the (probably) leather seats. Lossarion remained straight back and cautious, glancing all around. The Councillors stepped into another shuttle behind them and soon enough they were darting through the air.

Checking to see what species the driver was, and seeing it was a Salarian, Lossarion dropped into Icelandic. The reason was that Icelandic was notably not on the pre-built first contact package unlike most other languages and was on even the cheapest human universal translator. This meant that even if the elcor had shared the first contact data with the council already and they had added the language to their translators, they would not be able to understand them.

"Leyfðu mér að gera allt sem talað er. Agent Parker af MI6 mun vera með okkur í ræðu." Said Yossarion.

Shepard and DuFran set their output on their universal translator to Icelandic and responded.

"Náði því" the two of them replied.

"Þegar við erum búin hér aftur til skipanna og bíða eftir frekari pöntunum." Ordered Yossarion. Shepard and DuFran nodded.

The shuttle weaved between the rather low buildings, but seemed to be making it's way to what Shepard would consider the only true skyscraper in the city.

Still, she thought over what Lossarion had just said. Why had an MI6 agent been aboard their fleet? How did he know about and Du Fran, commander of the SolP forces, did not.

So much shadowy shit was going on here, and so fast. There really couldn't have been mch talk between "The EENS Gabriel" and Kurger or Epsilon Eridani govnerments. And there were so many unanswered questions running through Shepard's head. The Elcor, for all their annoyances, did not seem to be lying when they said that they did not turn on the Mass relay. Hell, it seemed like doing such a thing was just as heavily frowned on in Council space as it was in human space.

So... Who turned on the Mass Relay?

* * *

 _ **Alcubierre: NEO-TOKYO  
Chapter 1: Nil**_

 _ **December 25**_ _ **th**_ _ **2174  
Epsilon Eridani- Freedom's Reach**_

 _"Two... Cigarettes. In an Ashtray. My lover and I. In a small cafe."_

Hargreave slammed another straight Vodka back. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed the bitter drink before reaching for another.

The bar was mostly empty, utterly unmanned, using the self service VI droid to serve on Christmas day. Hargreave was utterly alone in this bar.  
He drank another, and dropped the glass onto the bar top. It fell onto it's side and rolled off the bar top. Hargreave placed his head in his hands.

 _"Then a stranger... Came along, and everything went wrong. Now there's three cigarettes in the ashtray."_

"Would you like another [Double Straight Vodka, no Ice], Stranger?" Asked the VI.

"How much have is on my tab already." Moaned Hargreave, clutching his head with one hand, his eyes forced shut to block out his headache.

 _"I watched, her take him, from me... And his love, is no longer, my own."_  
"You have bought [28] such drinks over the last [12] hours. You have spent [140.79] Credits." Said the droid.  
 _"Now they are gone. And I, sit alone. And watch one cigarette burn away."_  
Hargreave searched his wallet. A relic of a bygone era of physical money. It was all these alien Credits now.  
They had at least given him some money. They had taken his identity, after all, Arthur Hargreave had been legally dead for over 45 years.  
They had taken fifty years of his life, and his sanity. His dreams even now were filled with images of that monstrous thing on Kepler.  
His every waking moment haunted by his murders. Tetsuo. Paskins. Mathers, Hatigew. So many others. Even... Grahm.

He woke up. In a future he didn't understand. Forced back into the world the moment the Hospital declared him fit. He had new things in his head. The Greybox, so much of his brain was now cybernetics. Was he the real Hargreave, or a computer replacement? Had the real Hargreave died on the Midnight City. Or did he die on the operating table of a Keplerian ship.

"Two more." Said Hargreave wearily.

The droid, little more then two arms behind the bar and several cameras, robotically poured out two vodkas and placed them on the bar top.

At least, for him, his physical therapy had been quick. Wonders of future... Modern medicine he supposed.

He heard the door open behind him. Perhaps it was the owner of the bar. Asking him to get out. He wouldn't have thought so. Even if it was Christmas day, shitty bars could stay open.

He turned, wearily, to look at the new patron.

Oh great. It was an alien. At least it wasn't a Keplerian.

Hargreave studied it and tried to remember which of the many types of aliens it was. It wasn't a blue woman. Or a bipedal frog. It wasn't a trunk-less elephant or jellyfish. It was one of those tall bony aliens that look like, well, Hargreave couldn't remember. Not this many drinks down.

"Finally, a bar with someone in it." The.. Taruin? Tarquin? Tariun? Turian. That was it. Turian. "Everywhere else is utterly abandoned."

Hargreave turned away from the Turian and slammed back another drink. He was not interested in conversation.

"Weird thing left over from my time in the military. Can't stand drinking on my own." Said the Turian, as he sat right down next to Hargreave.

"Uh huh." Said Hargreave.

"Name's Septimus." Said the Turian.

Hargreave tried desperately to ignore the Turian. But his gods-damned manners demanded he replied.

"Prestoria." He replied.

He hated his new name. It meant nothing to him. Some echo, some part of him clung to it. He wasn't... didn't have to be Arthur James Hargreave, hero of the Keplerian war and super spy. He was just Jonathan Prestoria. A nobody drunk.

"You ex military yourself? You look the type." Said Septimus.

Hargreave gritted his teeth. A talkative alien drunk. Great.

"Special ops. Navy." Said Hargreave. He didn't give a shit about "The importance of covering up Operation return to sender." He wasn't going to blurt out state secrets, but if someone pieced one and two together he didn't care what happened to him. They could execute him for all he cared. He'd been dead for fifty years at least, what was an eternity more?

"Damn. I was a general myself." Said Septimus. "Retired last month. Big thing back on Palavan about it."

"Uh huh." Said Hargreave, slamming back another drink. Then holding up his fingers for two more.

"Yeah. Figured I'd travel the galaxy for a bit. See the sights. Experience other cultures." Said Septimus.

"Why are you here?" Asked Hargreave, annoyance in his voice.

If Septimus heard it, he ignored it.

"Human's control so much territory. The entire Orion Arm. And yet, they are so utterly fractured. So unique. One world near the centre of the galaxy could be a cultural and economic hub set up less than a decade ago, and another, right next to their homeworld, could be a desolate rock devoted only to mining." Said Septimus.

He understood the worlds he was talking about. Gardenfort in Cygnus-9109128 and 61-Cygni respectively.

"And so here I am. Epsilon Eridani. The first human extrasolar Colony humanity ever built." Said Septimus. "Do you mind if I select the song?"

Hargreave listened. The current song was now something about sleeping on a bed of Roses or something.

"Go on." Said Hargreave.

Septimus got up off the stool next to Hargreave and made his was over to the jukebox. Why he didn't use his Omni-tool to remotely change the song he didn't know, but some people cared about the physical interaction of things.

"Human music is generally pretty terrible, on average, but your kind are good at your depression. It strange that a race that can be as young for as long as yours still bemoans days past." Said Septimus.

"We aren't young forever." Said Hargreave, staring into the mirror behind the bar.

He looked at himself.

His once blonde hair, now steel grey from stress and PTSD, getting sort of shaggy and long. His crows feet slowly dipping in. His scar across his right eye still bright red against his pale face. His steel grey stubble becoming a beard.

He looked Haggered. A mixture of non-stop drinking, little sleep and the physical effects of a fifty year coma, coupled with the beginnings of depression.

"Rare for a human to say that. I can't work out your ages. Just how old are you?" Asked Septimus.

Hargreave sighed softly as a new song began. Something about... Falling. A way.

"93 Sol years." Said Hargreave for clarity, since he had no idea what a galactic or "Citadel" standard year was. Biologically normally that would've put him in his late twenties early thirties depending on luck of the draw. Hargreave guessed he was biologically in his early forties/very late thirties with all the damage his body went through. "Robot. Another 4."

"Yes sir." said the serving droid, as it deftly and mechanically poured out four glasses of double vodka.

"Your kind able to drink alcohol?" Asked Hargreave.

"If its not got too much other things in it."

"Well, this is pretty close to pure ethanol. Should be fine." Said Hargreave.

The robot placed four glasses on the bar top.

"Can't deal with sober right now." Said Hargreave.

Hargreave slammed back another Double Vodka, annoyed at his synthetic liver.

"Human after my own heart." Said The turian, briefly running his Omni-tool over the drink for a few seconds before slamming both back in quick succession.

Hargreave raised an eyebrow, but simply finished his other drink, wincing as he did so.

* * *

Hargreave stumbled into his one room apartment on the 128th floor of the Freedom's Reach Arcology 12D.

He fell onto his sofa bed and stared at the spinning ceiling.

Who was Hargreave?  
A drunk hiding behind a dead man's name, knowing in a few short years it will all end anyway. There was no point to leaving this room. A small part of him wanted to rage at the "injustices" done to him. To the shadowy EEIS for taking away his identity and forcing him to take that sodden implant all those years ago. Or was it a mere few months?

He wanted an enemy. He wanted to fight and die with some form of purpose.

But the EEIS had given him this apartment and a modest salary to do nothing but stew on his failures. He could drink until the Reapers killed him.  
And he could not fight the force of nature that were the reapers. How many civilisations had fallen before those black monoliths? How many more would do so?

What was his purpose?

There was none. There was no one to fight. He had nothing in this new, soon to end age.  
Soon all would return to darkness, and the cycle would start anew.

He closed his eyes, but did not sleep. He did not sleep anymore. Only dreamed.

Terrible dreams of metal gods and their fleshbourne thralls. Of brief moments of light against an encroaching an inevitable darkness, all to be repeated again and again. Of a child laughing so many times. Laughing at him. Laughing at the world. At the universe.

Darkness took him soon enough.

* * *

He stared at the screen. A news story on some deal between Hargreave Aerospace and Armitage Armoury to develop some new warships or something.

Hargreave took another slug of Vodka.  
At least his brother and Father were doing all right.  
At least they knew that they were Hargreave's.

Hargreave took another drag of his cigarette. The smoke filling the room with a shadowy haze.

Hargreave drunkenly opened his Omni-tool.

"Former Admiral Shepard."

She had at least gotten somewhere in the world. Had a son, commanded a supercarrier. Had started relations between Humanity and the Citadel. Done a better job of first contact than Hargreave and Grahm had, seeing as it only degenerated into weary coexistence rather then total war.

A son. John Shepard.

Hargreave... Never loved anyone. He enjoyed their company, but love was not something he knew. He certainly didn't love her. He knew her for a total of about 5 days. Still, he thought he might have found something there. A future.

Instead, she had gotten quickly married and equally quickly divorced in the fifties.

Hargreave had been searching the extranet regular, watching the live of people he once knew.

People he couldn't...

Hargreave's eyes widened. She was doing a book launch in Freedom's Reach? Some Autobiographical work on the Keplerian War and the Citadel Contact.

Hargreave eyed the rapidly emptying bottle of Vodka and the dying cigarette in his mouth.

She wouldn't recognise him. It wouldn't be breaking the Secrets act. He could see her.

No. What would be the point? Why would he burden her?  
Well, she likely knew about what might be burdening him. He worked out most of the human governments did after all, what with a few "missing" colony ships that suspiciously disappeared near black holes.

If she knew, and had somehow managed to cope with the inevitable extinction of all sapient life in the galaxy that was coming for them.. If she too had meet with Azemothran and survived... Maybe she could help him.

Hargreave stubbed out the cigarette in a ash tray on his coffee table and ran a hand through his long hair as he stood up. He'd go. He'd meet her. Ask her...

He walked into the bathroom and splashed water on his face before removing his t-shirt and washing.

He decided against Shaving. He needed to look just like any other veteran. He wasn't Hargreave anymore.

He had to give up that past up. And Shepard would help him understand this new world he had found himself in.

Jonathan Prestoria threw on a woollen coat and walked out the door of his apartment, heading into the hallway.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Alcubierre  
Chapter 11: To be exalted**_

The meeting room was... Well, pretty alien all things considered. Strange blue holographic feeds rapidly writing out strange untranslated alien scripts. Images of distant worlds and some strange metal tube, a circle with five almost foxglove like petals coming off it. There were several Asari and Salarian assistants standing and trying to fade into the background of the room. The table the eight of them were sat around was a giant slab of obsidian. It had been polished and sanded to a perfect slab, but feeling the edges Shepard could tell it was still sharp volcanic glass.

Built into it were small electronic doodads that Shepard didn't really understand what they did. In the centre was a holographic display of what Shepard assumed was a map of the galaxy. Unlike the rest of the Skyscraper and indeed the planet, the room felt a comfortable gravity, 1.12Gs by her implants working.

Then there were those actually sat at the table. Admiral Lossarion at the head of their end of the table, his back straight, one of his elbows resting on the table, another by his left side. To his right was the strange MI6 agent Parker, who's deeply glowing gold eyes and barely visible bioelectrics running under his skin spoke volumes about the amount of augmentations he was carrying.

On Lossarion's left was Admiral DuFran, both his hands placed in his lap, desperately struggling not to fidget with them.

I leant back into the chair slightly before placing both elbows on the table and arcing my fingers in front of my face.

The Asari at the head of the table opposite us had a similar pose to DuFran, but with obviously a lot less less nerves playing on her features.  
The Turian had simply crossed both of it's hands in front of him on the table. It's face was utterly unreadable to her.

The Salarian seemed miles away, using some strange holographic display thing on it's left forearm. The orange glow contrasting against the blue of the lights.

The Salarian looked to one of the the Salarian assistants, who simply nodded slightly in response, which it soon returned.

"Well. Welcome Humans." Said the Asari.

The mechanical whirr behind her voice suggested some auto-translation hijinks going on.

"Thank you for meeting us." Said Lossarion simply and clearly, with barely any inflection in his voice.

"Indeed. It has been a quite a few years since our last first contact with a sapient species. And even longer since we've meet one so advanced." Said the Turian. A male voice seemed to be coming through, though who knows if that had actually meant anything.

"I wish we could say the same." Mumbled DuFran, which got a rather piercing glare from both Lossarion and Parker.

"Við munum nefna að á seinna degi þú fífl hálfviti." Growled Lossarion, before smiling back at the Councilors.

Still, obivously reading the hostility to his comment, the Councilors ignored that for now. It made sense. As honestly quite innocent in the Keplerian war as humanity was, the end results might give the impression that humanity were genocidal madmen obssesed with vengeance. Somethign you didn't usually want the people with a massive fuckoff 2km dreadnought to think.

"Apologies. Yes. I'm sure, since you have seen our relative power that we can come to a mutually acceptable colonisation agreement." Said Lossarion. He already knew what Humanity wanted, which was the entire Orion arm. From what they had gotten from the Elcor crew Orion itself wasn't very colonised.

"Before that Admiral, we do have a few questions." Said the Asari.

"Indeed. Firstly, according to Carlyn your species can live for... An indeterminate amount of time?" Asked the Turian, his cheek plates twitching as he spoke through it's sharp teeth. "Could you explain."

"Right. Unmodified our species lives for roughly 130 Sol years."

The Salarian began to open his Omni-tool and run off a few calculations concerning orbital cycles before turning to the Asari.

"144 Thessia years." It said.

The Asari nodded.

"And... Modified?" She asked cautiously.

"About 40 years ago we discovered the means to slow down human ageing to one tenth of our average. Most everyone has these nanites and no one has yet to have lived an entire lifetime with these nanites. A few of those already approaching death have died of age related illnesses, but that's it." Said Lossarion.

The Salarian seemed to focusing far more on the humans now whilst the Asari had a brief nervous glance around the room.

"So..."

"Well, remove the first twenty years, and a human on average, assuming our medical tech never improves, will live for about 1120 years." Said Lossarion.

"And... How many human beings are there right now?" Asked the Turian.

"By last census, which usually misses out small independent colonies or stuff like the borderless fleet, we're looking at roughly 163 billion human beings in the Orion arm." Said Lossarion.

"I see..." The Asari said.

"It says here that you are part of the military arm of the... Sol Protectorate and the Alliance of Free Stars. Why the two governments?" Asked the Salarian.

"Well, we didn't want to crowd this room with the Cult of Kek, New Canaan State, Southern expanse Confedency, Borderless fleet, Sans Frontieres, Keplerian representative, Yellowstone reinvigoration project, People's republic of the free and democratic state of New North Korea, Rubicon, Man's Grasp, Oort asc..."

"I'm sorry. Just how many governments do Humans have?" Asked the Turian.

"Not including individual nation states planet and station side? About 60 or so solar governments." Said Lossarion.

* * *

"Well. That could've gone worse." Said Shepard when they were back in the shuttle, heading beyond Dekunna's atmosphere and back towards Gabriel.

"How on Earth could any species have a one species government? It's insane. I mean, they are separated by literal billions of kilometres." Said Lossarion.

"I guess early and easy access to FTL communications helped?" Asked DuFran.

"Even back during the early Sol days there was no doubt that Mars would rule Mars, Luna would rule Luna and the Main belt was going to be a political mess. Hell, that's still the case, just under the umbrella of the Sol Protectorate." Said Lossarion.

"We didn't make much progress though..." Said Shepard.

Lossarion smiled weakly.  
"We never were. We need to go to the Citadel and play our part in the diplomatic games. Make the right appearances. Wide eyed looks of wonder and falling before ourselves to be a part of their council." Said Lossarion.

"And really?" Asked Shepard.

Instead, Lossarion turned to agent Parker.

"Grafa undan þeim. Gerðu bandalög í skugganum. Og fáðu okkur Orion." The agent said simply.

"Makes sense." Said Shepard dimly.

She hated this. The fear and paranoia. It was... all so pointless. She looked out the window as the escaped the atmosphere of Delkunna. As they left and entered the field of stars towards the metal gargantuan monolith of the "EENS Gabriel.".

And even now, it was still dwarfed by that dying structure at Cygnius. It was nothing compared to a Reaper. Nothing could truly compare. Oh sure, humanity had built massive structures like most Negative Mass collidors or stations like Kruger. But they didn't echo in her mind, didn't devour the light around them, didn't scream and project like that dying Reaper.

She blocked such thoughts from her mind. A crashed ship could no more die then a building could. And that "Reaper" was dead. Hargreave had been driven mad by the humming inside his head and nothing more. He died because of his undiagnosed schizophrenia and nothing more. If anyone was going to have mental problems it was going to be the guy that simultaneously furiously denied and regrettably accepted that he was the cause of over ten million deaths. And who knows how many more in his part in the Keplerian war. It was enough to drive anyone mad really. Shepard did not have such doubts and guilts playing upon her mind.

She saw the Reaper for what it was. A ship. A broken one.

* * *

Once back aboard the Gabriel, it was another short shuttle ride across to her own ship. She sat in the Captain's chair, the crew essentially on auto-pilot ready to jump and align with the Mass relay. The entire course to this mystical "Citadel" had already been plotted in, so it was just watch the screens and wait. Seeing as the fleet now numbered 40 human ships and 45 Alien ones including five Capital ships between them Shepard really doubted they'd see any action.

But still she was nervous.

It took only two days of relay travel until the fleets aligned at the final Mass Relay. Shepard was ready for some Kruger esque station, some small centrifugal station or a group of them.

When she exited into the Viper system she was not prepared.

It... It was enormous. Maybe 40km or so long. The wild mass of ships ranging from shuttles to another dreadnought sized.  
Five long arms off on circular main body. The outside of the structure was oddly similar to... too something she didn't want to think about. But the insides had thousands of points off lights, some moving, others stationary. It looked as if it houses millions.

She stared at the screen. Did the Asari build this things? Or the Turians and Salarians? This was a feat of engineering so advanced she could barely put her head around it.

No. She could guess who built it. The same thing that the Keplerians worshipped as gods.  
She was pulled away from the vid screen my a message notification. She accepted.

"All right. All diplomats and Captains, in shuttles, follow the shuttle designated "Kestral", that's gonna take us to the Citadel tower. Maintain non aggressive patrol routing, stay out of the way of civilian traffic and from this point on follow all directions give by Citadel traffic control. Any Capital class ships are to stay at least 60km from the station, anything else follow what CTC tell you. Lossarion out."

Shepard walked out the Captain's chair as her XO stepped in behind her. She walked past guard and soldier towards the rear of the ship, towards the Shuttles. The "Paint it Black" could carry roughly seven shuttles, but they would only be launching one, carrying herself, one diplomat and a veritable army of make up artists and hangers on to make sure they looked their best and said the correct things to say. Which in all likelihood was naught at all.

As she climbed into the the shuttle, already hovering off the floor on it's bottom EM Drive pad, she ran a hand through her short red hair.  
She sat down last in the shuttle, closing the door behind her. She barely felt the movement and inertia as the shuttle reversed out of her ship. Just as she was beginning to relax a young feminine looking man immediately crouched in front of her and began to grip her face, moving her face side to side before reaching into his pocket and drawing a make up kit.

 _It's this kind of shit I joined the Navy to escape from  
_ Shepard rolled her eyes but allowed him to continue.

She looked out a slit of a window and watched the nebula outside.  
 _Why would you not build this in orbit of a garden world or something? Somewhere you could grow food? Somewhere to have an ever larger population?_

Why is this here?

It was going to be a while until they docked, and so, Shepard daydreamed.  
 _  
She dreamt she was standing in a stone city, sitting atop a outcrop, above a sheer cliff above a massive lake as still as steel. The streets were bathed in a sickly yellow natural light, like sunlight in autumn or winter. The buildings were too large for her to see above them, to see the sun. The dark shadows seemed impossibly long, and flecks of darker points hide inside them._

 _She looked up. Somehow the sunset sky too was spotted with points of shadow and black, that seemed to eat the light around them. From what little she could see past the tower ancient stone they was as numerous as stars in a night's sky._

 _Was that what they were? Dark Stars?_

 _She climbed a stone tower, each hand hold followed the previous, climbing impossibly fast. At long last she was atop a stone keep, and looked towards the sun._

 _It was utterly black, surrounded by a halo of deep crimson. It swirled, interspersed with dark crimson and light eating black. The sky darkened, but still those terrible dark stars stood out against the night._

 _She stared and stared into that dark, watching slowly as black turned to crimson._

 _The sun grew brighter. More and more focused. Until a great beam of crimson light tore apart the lake before her and headed towards her._

She shook herself awake.

She... Was in the docks of the Citadel? Already off the shuttle, watching as the diplomats waved to the alien crowds.  
She shook her head.

She looked around. Turians, Asari, Elcor and Salarians. Strange four eyed humanoids, freaky massive floating jellyfish, short fat things in strange suits and one or two large muscular turtle like bipeds. She waved to the crowd, but her facial expression didn't truly change from her blank mask.

 _How have I lost fifteen minutes of time to a single daydream?_

Shepard was one of two hundred humans that were selected as the official delegation. The crowd cheered, seemingly glad it was a peaceful first contact, or that there was another species they could exploit.

Eventually, they reached a pavilion in a large courtyard, several elevators around it. The entire room was smooth white metal, with blue lights shining. Here it seemed only Turians, Asari and Salarians had gathered. A show of power, and just who was boss if Shepard had to guess.

Shepard fell in with the rest of the Captains and lesser Diplomats as Admiral Lossarion and the Chief Diplomat, one "Stephen Dillane", a hard, unyielding man known for his blunt manner. His great tall stature and greying thinning hair marked him as someone born before the 2090's, and he had about three decades of experience. Annoyingly he worked for the Sol Protectorate, but if the Kruger Assembly trusted him to work for mutual human interest for now then Shepard didn't mind.

He walked in front of a stand and began to speak, though Shepard could not see a microphone his voice boomed throughout the massive courtyard.

"I speak as the temporary representative of the Human race. We are glad to have been so warmly welcomed by the Citadel Council and to be received in such on the Citadel. Humanity has only be space faring for the last century, but in that time we have always looked towards the stars with both hope and trepidation. Our Trepidation has been confirmed once, twice. But now, at last, our hope has been answered again and again. Turian, Asari, Salarian. Krogan and Batarian, Elcor and Volus. Hanar and Quarian." Said Dillane. "Though we will be cautious, we are glad to have a positive answer to one of our oldest questions. Are we alone?"

Shepard was confused. So far they had been almost ultra cautious in not mentioning the Reapers or Keplerian war. And now Dillane was flagrently mentioning their botched and ruinous first first contact?  
Something had changed.

"Humanity has a long way to go, but we will be eager to make long lasting friendships with you all." Said Dillane, though his severe voice did not spare much warmth. "Thank you."

There was much applause from both the alien crowd and us humans behind Dillane. After a few moments we began to split apart and head for one extremely large elevator, heading for what was called the Citadel Tower, and the council chambers within.

Until Admiral Lossarion placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Not you Shepard. You, me and Agent Parker have a meeting with someone else. We need your... Particular military history. We've got a meeting with the Citadel fleet commander." Said Lossarion. "It's about... The Reapers."

Shepard gulped.

* * *

"We received your report." Said A turian, sitting down at the table whilst reading something on his strange orange holo-wrist. He was about 7ft, his face tattoo in blue and yellow. His name was apparently Tytos Nyvosa.

Lossarion nodded, leafing through several paper reports in english.  
"And I yours." Said Lossarion.

"So... Your kind have found no evidence of the Protheans?" Asked Tytos.

"Not one scrap. Bar the mass relays we've have found nothing that would support your claim of a precouser race existing fifty thousand years ago." Said Lossarion.

"And your kind insists that these so called "Reapers" more than likely built the mass relays?" Asked Tytos.

"Our scientist took small samples of a inactive Mass relay we discovered. Whilst not identical the building material and composition was highly similar to the remaining pieces of Reaper we have left." Said Agent Parker.

"We have tonnes of evidence of Protheans. Even ignoring the Mass Relays we have the Citadel. The ruins of Feros. Beacons across hundreds of planets. Ruins of ancient cities and military bases." Said Tytos.

"We aren't denying that these Protheans may have once existed, but that we know what caused them to disappear." Said Lossarion.

"Ah yes. And what proof is there for the Reapers? A mad civilisation that worshipped some building your kind just so happened to glass and some small fragments of that same place?" Said Tytos.

"It was no building." Shepard butted in. "It had a massive element zero core, it fired upon and nearly destroyed an entire fleet!"

Lossarion placed his hand on the table, working his holopalm with the other.

"And, there is testimony from some... Indoctrinated." Said Lossarion.

He held his left palm up in front of him and a 3d image was projected.

A single man, who Shepard recognised as EEIS agent Harper, was inside what looked like a cell with a man bound to a chair. Whilst Harper was calm and looked composed, the man in the chair had looked like bits of his face had been torn off. He had a mad glint in his eye and seemed to be starring down into nothing.

Harper began to speak.

"Agent Harper. EEIS. The date is the October 8th 2131 standard sol calender, the time is 27:38 local time. With me is implanted Ensign Carlos Jones. Implanted one month before Operation return to sender."

Harper turned to the man bound in the chair and crouched down to look at him.

"Ensign?" Asked Harper.

"We see Dark stars born anew again and again."

"Subject is severely mentally impaired. He was found aboard the TCNS frigate "Sympathy for a devil (II)." Said Harper. "Subject was one of the last few alive onboard, having partaken in cannibalism in order to stay alive for the last month. Scars are from tearing at his own face, perhaps to remove the implant." Said Harper in that strange, oddly calm voice.

"It will eat the stars, and consume us. We will become machine. We will become god." Said Carlos.

"What is Azmorethran?" Asked Harper.

"Azmorethran? A inhabitant... no... the inhabitant of Carcosa. It is the harvester of all light. It will reap what it sows." Said Carlos.

"Subject is suffering from visual and auditory hallucinations, speaking of seeing "Shadows" and seems to be sharing memories of the other implanted." Said Harper.

"I owe her a drink on Tau. I do I do. She will drink and be made anew." Said Carlos. He finally looks up and turns to Harper. "I saw his soul at the edge of his eyes. He who survives will become the Yellow king."

"Similar rants and portents have been said by all surviving implantees." Said Harper. "What is a reaper?"

"A Reaper? One of many." Said Carlos. "They will harvest all life that dares to dream."

"How many?" Asked Harper.

"As many stars in the sky. Oh they are built from the graves of our dead, again and again. Time is a flat circle." Said Carlos.

Carlos turns to the camera.

"It will harvest all. It is the dark stars. I dream of Carcosa. Dream with me."

"Typically once a subject speaks of dreaming of Carcosa they are unable to respond to any further questioning. We will try again in an hour." Said Harper.

The vid shut off.

Shepard tried to relax. She heard that the implanted were insane, but even Hargreave hadn't been that... Lost.  
Tytos twitched his mandibles for a few seconds, before speaking.

"Strange as that was, all that shows me is your species is just as prone to mental illness as the rest of us."

"Before being... Implanted with Reaper tech said subject had a clean bill of both physical and mental health. Even after he died, we performed an autopsy and found no obvious signs of brain damage. No scarring. Whatever broke him was beyond our medical technology to detect." Said Lossarion.

"All right. Lets move on from this so called "Indoctrination.". Your reports says you believe that there are potentially thousands or millions of these "Reapers.". 2Km tall dreadnoughts with weapons, shields and soldiers far in advance of ours." Said Tytos.

"Yes. We fought Thralls on Kepler's defeat and Santiago. And a heavily damaged grounded reaper was powerful enough to tear apart an entire fleet."

"How did you destroy it?"

Lossarion and Parker turned to Shepard.

"We planted several nuclear devices inside of it. Even that didn't destroy it entirely. It took almost two hours of orbital bombardment to stop the thing from firing, which utterly glassed the surrounding area." Said Shepard bluntly.

"I see." Said Tytos, his mandibles flicking. "What is currently the plan for humans to fight them should the Reapers arrive within the next century?"

"Delay." Said Lossarion simply.

"Delay?" Asked Tytos.

"As it stands, even with what tech we believe we can trade with the Citadel, what we can develop in 100 years and estimated human population size there is still almost no chance for us to defeat the Reapers. Our current plan is simply to prepare several back up solutions to restart humanity after our extinction. Plans which most are not privy to in order for them to remain a secret from both us and the Reapers." said Lossarion.

"You've... Given up?" asked Tytos.

"Yes." said Lossarion.

Shepard sighed.

"Surely you can fight? You've destroyed one Reaper..." Said Tytos.

"We glassed a continent which happened to have a almost dead Reaper on it at the expense of a fleet. We lost several billions of human lives fighting against a species less advanced then yours coordinated by said Reaper. We aren't going to win." Said Lossarion.

Tytos once again stayed silent for a few seconds.

"We aren't expecting you to respond immediately. We'll make our formal report to the citadel council itself later. But for now, we hope this explains some of our actions in the coming months." Said Lossarion.

Tytos simply nodded, starring into space.

Lossarion reopened his holo-palm.  
He quickly read it.

"All right. We have our orders." Said Lossarion. He switched to Icelandic.  
"Shepard, þú ert að taka "mála það svart" og fara til Khar'shan. Þú verður að semja við Batarians."

Shepard thought about her orders for a few seconds. Great. She had no idea what a batarian was.  
Oh well. They can't be that bad.

* * *

 _ **Alcubierre: Neo-Tokyo  
Chapter 2: To be nothing**_

Shepard's book signing was actually rather quiet. Only about 100 hundred people lining up. Hargreave had easily paid for his copy and was actually leafing through it whilst waiting in line. He actually thought it was nice that somehow physical book stores had survived the 21st and most of the 22nd century.

It was... Well, a bunch of outright lies. He was 100% sure what she wrote about the Keplerian war was complete horse shit and pretty sure the first contact of the citadel was no different, he just had less proof for that.

Still, it was pretty entertaining drivel. It turned their pretty anticlimactic journey to Yellowstone into a desperate hunt for survival amidst the ruins of man's hubris. It turned the capture of the Keplerian frigate into a desperate battle and out right cut out the shit about me and some of the crew being implanted voluntarily or not. Or that the Aliens had just given us the ship.

And well, it sort of exaggerated both of their kill counts during the battle of Sol. And ignored the really fucking shady shit they did between Santiago and Sol.

But that was just Hargreave's brief glance through.

He looked in front of him. There were only a dozen or so people left before he would meet with her.

Would she immediately recognise him? Would she have no idea? Hargreave had no idea which was worse for him.  
Well, if Shepard recognised him it'd probably end up with the two of them "Committing suicide" with six bullets to the back of the head CIA style. He was officially a pretty big state secret after all.

She was looming ever closer, and fear and doubt continued to plague him.

Until finally, he was all that remained.

"Name?" She asked as Hargreave took in every detail.

She, unlike him, still looked at worse early to mid thirties, her red hair still short as it had been fifty years ago. She was wearing only a smidgen of make-up, not wanting to hide her freckles. She wore a peach jacket and dark dress which looked rather professional. Her deep green eyes finally looking up from her table towards him.

She seemed to, for a moment, concentrate on his face. Searching it for something he wasn't sure she would be able to find in him. But not looking into his cerulean eyes, the one part of his face that was definitely Hargreave.  
Hargreave sighed quietly. He wasn't strong enough.

"Hargreave." He wished to say. But instead

"Jonathan Prestoria" Fell from his lips.

"Want any particular messages?" She asked.

He realised. He could make her say anything. Make her say he was strong enough to be Hargreave. Forgive him for dying. Say that what they had done in the war had been the greater good. Forgive him for Cittagaze.

"I fought with Hargreave." He said instead.

Her eyes widened.

"Wait..."

"Not aboard the Midnight city. But in Santiago. On the ground." Jonathan said, remembering those days of resistance. "He... He mentioned you once. Said that he wished you were there with him, helping him fight them off again."

"Truly?" She said. Still she did not look into his eyes.

"I... I know how he died. Truly." Said Jon. And that was at least somewhat true. One day Hargreave would know how he would die. No doubt he might know and plan it long before it happened.

"He..."

He what? He would've joined you in drinking in Tau Ceti. Would've settled down with you and...  
Hargreave was barren. As sterile as the hospital room he had been in for the last fifty years. He had no past, no future. Nothing to pass on, nothing to carry.

"He remembered you." Said Hargreave.

He walked away. Tears began to well in his eyes, but he left the book and the woman behind. His past was behind him. He couldn't do anything to change that. He could not return there. Too much time had passed. And whilst he had desperately wanted otherwise, the world had moved on. Hargreave had died that day, aboard the Midnight City.

He barely heard her call out his name, before she simply tried to return to the queue.

* * *

Staring at the turned off vid screen, Hargreave absent mindedly twirled his gun around his finger. It wasn't his custom m1911, which was probably in a locker in EEIS HQ or sold or something, nor his Genuine Single Army action left in dropbox Hargreave could no longer access, but one of these cheap new fangled Element Zero pistols.

This one, it turn out, had a pretty interesting defect. Slap and smack it in the correct place a few times and it would typically fire only one in four times you pull the trigger.

Time to test that.

Hargreave placed the barrel into his mouth, well aware of the proper technique for instant suicide, and pull the trigger.

Nothing happened.

Taking the gun out of his mouth, he stared off into space.

75% chance was still pretty good. Perhaps tomorrow.

Closure. That was what Shepard was supposed to bring him. But rather...

He saw her eyes. Dead eyes. He knew. She knew.

He stared into space, as images flashed past his mind.  
 _  
When he was walking back home, he saw a man on the street, preaching in a raised voice._

 _"They await in the shadows, and with them comes the night."  
"They are the Rebirth, the reason we live and the reason we fly"  
"Shadows lengthen, waters rise."  
"He lives as we die."  
"In Carcosa."_

 _He saw a lake as still as steel._  
 _And a modern city built into a crater, the water held off by great walls of black._

 _"Songs only the understanding sing."_  
 _"We pray to the broken king."_  
 _"And await for the Galaxy's heart."_  
 _"And change us all at last."_  
 _"In Lost Carcosa."_

 _He saw a knife of black organic metal.  
Plunge into his heart_

 _"Soon the heart beats."  
"We watch for the light from dark stars."  
"And as we listen for whispered thoughts."  
"As they take what we dared thought was ours."  
"In Dim Carcosa."_

 _He saw a misshapen thing, rejected by a heart._

 _"Azmorethran. Azmorethran. We wait for the touched one. The last one."_  
 _"And soon with lies."_  
 _"The heart will bring."_  
 _"Not a man... but the Yellow King."_  
 _"To Lost Carcosa."_

 _He saw... a reaper._

Hargreave scratched at his temple. A soft whisper repeated the mad rant.  
 _And we must..._

Hargreave threw the gun away and walked around his apartment.  
Why did he stay here and do nothing. Why?

He grabbed his emergency travel bag, his credit chit, ID and stormed out of the building, not even bothering to lock the door.

There was nothing for him here. He could not stay in Epsilon Eridani. Where he would go he didn't know, but anywhere was better then staying here, waiting for death.

He walked out, out the Arcology and out through the crowded streets of Freedom's Reach towards the spaceport.

Somewhere... He would go somewhere.

* * *

 _ **Codex:**_

 _Relgion in the late 22_ _nd_ _century-2170_

Whilst Earth based Mainstream religions continue to stay strong, especially in Sol itself, certain religions with particular holy sites of pilgrimage (See Islam, Hindu, Judaism) have not seen massive adoption in Extrasolar colonies.

Cults like KEK and Scientology are surprisingly popular in independent or smaller colonies, though KEK's own "Tongue in teeth" nature mostly only attracts Hipsters or people just using it to shitpost.

Mormonism continues to grow in the Later Day empire of the stars, the five star empire.  
So called "Reaper cults" are popular on Kepler's defeat, Cygnius and Carcosa. There has been no connection between the mental degradation effects concerning certain Keplerian implants and the origins of these cults so far, and few are successors to the state religion of the Keplerian Empire.  
Human religions to not have large alien followings, which can be attributed to human's isolationist policies. 

_YVWH level classification-Human preparedness for known extragalactic threat known as "REAPERS"_

Combined Human naval and armed forces have a 0.9% chance of survival against believed Reaper threat.  
Combined Human and Citadel naval armed forces have a 2.1% chance of survival against believed Reaper threat.  
All sapient species in the galaxy, including Yahg, terminus, possible Rachni holdouts, Krogan, Geth and quarian naval and armed forces have a 3.5% chance of survival of believed Reaper threat.

Chance of continued stability of galactic society is 0.2% chance no matter which scenario.  
Chance of human extinction post reaper war is 93.4%

Official EXALT policy- PROJECT DARK STARS

 _ **Authors notes: I always think most of these HFY fics seriously underplay the Reapers. And they either are piss easy compared to oh so special humans or it takes some reallllll stretching to actually make them a threat. So, I'm playing more on the psychological indoctrination angle. We know already Hargreave was/may still be indoctrinated, who knows how many humans are?  
Especially since, as this chapter proves, Humanity has essentially given up in the face of this enemy.**_

 ** _BTW: Shepard and her Adventures in dealing with the Batarian Hegemony or Hargreave and his roadtrip through human space?_**  
 ** _Choose which one first, I don't mind._**

 ** _Expect Carcosa to be some real shit for Hargreave._**  
 ** _Lost Carcosa_**  
 ** _Dim Carcosa_**  
 ** _Lost Carcosa_**


	12. Chapter 12

_**Alcubierre: Neo-Tokyo  
Chapter 3: Far and wide**_

 ** _2nd February 2175_**

The shuttle shuddered as she re-entered atmosphere.

Hargreave bleary opened his eyes.  
He stretched in his bunk bed, still in the same clothes he'd been wearing the entire trip. He removed the gun he had under his pillow, scratching his temple with it as he sat up, careful not to hit the bed above.

For a few moments he performed the daily ritual of re-syncing his artificial memories. Most people with Greyboxes did this before they went to bed, dumping and compressing most irrelevant memories and favouriting and double checking important and flagged ones. He remembered where he was heading. Kepler's Defeat. Hargreave found this made him forget his dreams. As terrible as they were, filled with a stone city and dark stars, they clearly needed to be seen. He had a lot of damage to get over, and pushing it aside and forgetting wouldn't help.

By all the research he did before he hitched this ride from Man's Grasp, Kepler's defeat was now pretty well developed. Euclid Bay especially was known as one of the few colony cities outside of the big four with Arcologies in it.

That wasn't why Hargreave was here. He would land there obviously, the Borderless fleet guy he hitched a ride with had business in the city, and he'd given him a pretty good discount on the trip compared to a commercial flight. Still, it was a long hike to where he was going.

Hargreave finally hooped off the bed and grabbed his rucksack from beneath just as the others onboard were waking up too. His room had 3 bunk beds and six people in it. Hargreave hadn't been talking much to them, and that seemed to suit everyone fine.

Personally, Hargreave had wanted to get off at Asgard or Santiago, for personal reasons, but Man's Grasp was a good enough pitstop anyway.

So far he'd hit Tau Ceti, Kruger, Byzantine and Man's Grasp. Mostly staying to Sol Protectorate or independent colonies, in case Epsilon Eridani Intelligence were looking for him.

The shuttle continued to shake and stir it broke atmos, but Hargreave had got his "Space legs" years ago, and Inertia dampeners and EM Drives were absolute miracles. So he continued to quickly clean his teeth, wash and stare at his face in the mirror above the sink in the one bathroom everyone on the shuttle had to stare.

By the time he finished his morning routine the ship had slowed down and stabilised considerably, suggesting they were now in normal atmosphere flight.

Hargreave moved aside from the mirror, running a hand through his increasingly long and messy greying hair and threw one strap of his backpack over a shoulder and made his was to the cockpit.

"Local time?" He asked the pilot. Honestly, he knew how shuttle and ship landings worked now. An advanced gps and flight control computer handled complte atmosphere control so as to make landing as efficient as possible. And Ftl flight was fully calculated by computers anyway. And you only really drop out of Warp above a planet. Anyone could pilot a ship nowadays.

"10:34 am." Said the south African accented pilot simply, he legs on the command console, watching porn from his "omni-tool". Looked like Human/Turian stuff. Sick fuck.

"Thanks." Said Hargreave, turning away and heading towards the air lock on the small shuttle, placing his bag down and leaning against a wall ear the door. He brought up his own Omni-tool.

 _Kepler's defeat_

 _Created: 2110, Formally named simply Kepler 138b._

 _Human habitable planet. Contains advanced multicelleur life, famous for native enormous fungal forests around the equator, though earth plantlife was introduced and flourished, creating vast pine forests that have destroyed much of its unique flora and fauna._

 _Famous for the site of the first battle of the Keplerian war in March of 2124, where 300 Keplerian war ships appeared above the planet in an unprovoked attack on a human settlement._

"Unprovoked my ass." Hargreave whispered to himself.

 _Sites to see: Euclid bay the jewel of the Northern first sphere, the Euclid Forest, a great pine forest stretching for miles. The forest of Yeen, a fungal forest full of strange enormous mushrooms and bizarre native creatures. The Keplerian war memorial._

 _"That's the one"_ Thought Hargreave as he opened the link.

 _Site of one of the largrest bits of debris of the TCNS Stormfront, this is one of the three great Keplerian war memorials. Inscribed on the 300mx200m scrap of melted steel is the name of every single human who died in the conflict, including the civilians of Kepler's defeat, Man's Grasp, Santiago, Asgard, Tau Ceti, Rubicon and Sol. The piece was made by renowned artist "Julian Rosenhartz" and symbolises..._

Hargreave closed the omni-tool.  
Well, he now had a location seared into his unforgetting brain. Coordinates. About 530 miles from Euclid bay. With very little money, Hargreave knew it was going to either be hitchhiking or walking, neither of which massively appealed to him. But before all that, he had to deal with the most monstrous of human conventions.

Space port Security.

It was going to be a long fucking day.

* * *

After almost a full eight hours of checking his one bag, checking his (Admitted fake) Passport, checking and Rechecking he had a (Fake) gun license and a blood, hair and semen sample for a fake identity Hargreave was finally allowed onto the crowded and bustling streets of Euclid bay.

Purportedly this was a coastal city, though he couldn't tell. The buildings seemed to stretch up forever. Flying shuttles darted through the sky in ordered and yet chaotic lines, people crisscrossed between the neon buildings in skywalks made of glass. The sky was beginning to darken as the star set across the distant unseen horizon, the red sky fading to purple.

Hargreave walked, heading towards some shop door or overpass he could sleep under tonight. He patted his gun inside his coat, a great black woollen thing, torn and beginning to get stained with dirt. He looked towards someone on a street corner, their clothes ragged, their flesh weak, their bones sticking out, their eyes rolled into the back of their head as they slightly shuddered and spoke under their breath.

Hargreave grimaced. The tell tale signs of a memory junkie. Someone who'd spend most of their waking moments reliving their memories through their grey box. To experiencing the memory of a night out in perfect detail, of elation and ecstasy again and again, unchanging, perfect memories. No wonder some people would experience it forever.

He walked past, the night drawing in ever closer, twin moonlight glowing and neon streets glowing more and more, casting harder and harder shadows upon him. He looked up, but couldn't see the starlight. Only man made glow. Only dark stars.

Soon enough he came to a sewer grate already upon, firelight within. It didn't smell too bad, so Hargreave climbed down.

He came upon the sewers of Euclid bay. A labyrinth of the old city, infested with the dispossessed and the infirm, the junkies and drifters. The so called "Mole People.". A few from the nearest barrel fire looked towards him, but soon enough paid him little mind. Hargreave walked around, his olfactory senses shutting down automatically. His plan was to head towards the river, or perhaps some dark unseen crevice.

But a smell his senses allowed past drifted in. the smell of cooked meats. Hargreave turned a corner, coming towards a man with what looked like a full cafe built into one tunnel. Row upon row of tables and chairs, many occupied by those same mole people. Hargreave walked towards the counter, where a portly Puetro Rican looking woman stood behind.

He studied the menu for a few seconds, the only food he really recognised was a "Artificial Cow Burger."

"Yeah, can I get a ACB with cheese, and a bottle of water?" He asked.

"5 credits." She said simply. Hargreave opened his omni-tool, having ditched his wallet on Kruger station. He completed the transaction and watched as a meat slurry was poured into a nanoforge, forming what looked exactly like an actual burger.

He sat down at one of the nearby tables, the one with only one other person on it, and waited for his meal.

"You're new." Said a voice. It sounded like a rough english accent, a middle aged man. Hargreave looked at his fellow diner sat on the table.

He was slightly better dressed then everyone else here, and the pistol inside his suede jacket was clearly visible. He had rough sandy blond hair and a scar marked face, one eye slightly dimmer than the other. That must be the biological eye.

"Yeah." Hargreave said simply.

"You interested in making money?" Asked the man.

"No." Said Hargreave simply.

"huh. Rare to hear anyone be that blunt. Godamn people usually here me out." Said the man, leaning back in his plastic chair.

"I'm not on this planet for money." Said Hargreave.

"Oh yeah? What else are you here for? Everyone comes to Kepler's defeat to make enough money to live inner colony style." Said the man.

"I'm here..." For what? Closure? Nothing ever ends in this world, his and humanity's dawning realisation at their immortality would be proof of that. "To visit that War memorial."

For a few seconds the man in front of him said nothing, studying his face.

"Oh yeah? You a survivor?" Asked the man.

"Half and half." Hargreave replied honestly with a slight shrug.

"Yeah, I can read that on your face. Your scars ain't as ugly as mine. But their pretty obvious." Said the man. "Names Zaeed."  
Zaeed reached out with his hand.

"Arthur." Said Hargreave, grasping his hand and shaking.

A burger and drink was placed in front of Hargreave, which Zaeed looked at quickly with a sly grin before returning to Hargreave's face.

"What are you here for?" Asked Hargreave before he took a large bite out of the burger.

Zaeed kept his grin.

"Just got back from Kowloon in the terminus. Ended pretty badly for me. Figured I'd stay orionside for a while." Said Zaeed. He then rolled up one of his sleeves to show a tatoo. It was an Osprey clutching a burning sword. Hargreave recognised the emblem immediately.

"I'm a Kepler vet too. 3rd Luna rifles. "The Fire Starters"." Said Zaeed.

Hargreave had heard of them. Tough as nails commando units specialising in hit and run, Search and destroy and guerrilla warfare.

Hargreave took off his own coat and lifted his sleeve to show a simple three metallic dots melted into his skin on his tricep.

Zaeed's eyes widened.

"SOIG?" He asked.

Hargreave nodded. The three melted dots weren't well known as a symbol of the Soig, for that would rather defeat the point, instead they were known to be three tiny microexplosives common in espionage circles. They could be pushed to the surface by tensing your arm in a certain way and ripped off, though that was pretty painful. Hargreave untensed his arm and the dots faded from view.

"Goddam. I thought they fucking wiped the program or whatever it is that shady intelligence agents do." Said Zaeed.

"I died once, if that helps." Said Hargreave.

"Sure." Said Zaeed with a shrug. He then returned to studying Hargreave. "What's a SOIG agent doing in a fucking sewer in Orion Space?"

"...Visiting a war memorial. You ever been?" Asked Hargreave, curious for information about it. But Zaeed shook his head.  
Hargreave watched as something clicked inside Zaeed's head.

"Hey wait a second, you're fucking bullshitting me you god-damn cunt. Arthur. SOIG agent. Fucking Captain Hargreave is dead. I saw "Return to sender." About forty years ago. Hargeave's fucking dead." Zaeed Shouted. Hargreave's eyes widened but no one else in the cafe seemed to be paying the two of them much attention.

Then Zaeed stared into Hargreave's Cerulean blue eyes, at the red scar running down past his eye, at his steel grey hair and his proud chin. And it clicked.

"Wait... no way." Said Zaeed. He almost reached out to Hargreave's face. "It's a pretty good copy I'll admit. Genetic modification and plastic surgery is that good, though the grey hair is a dead..."

Hargreave sighed.

"I am Hargreave." He whispered.

"Prove it." Said Zaeed rolling his eyes.

"My name is Arthur James Hargreave. Born November 14th 2081. Served with SOIG from 2019 till 2114, where upon I served as captain of the TBS Peqoud for a decade, where upon I started the Keplerian war. I'm also responsible for Yellowstone's current state and "Died" in Operation Return to sender. I was friends with Joshua Grahm who died during the same mission. My brother is a smarmy cunt who co runs Hargreave Aerospace with my dad." Said Hargreave. "My Grandad is a smart angry old man in a retirement home in Epsilon Eridani."

"Anyone could know that shit." Said Zaeed.

Hargreave pointed to the scar across his eye. "Santiago."  
Pointed to his right temple. "Keplerian implant."  
Then lifted his shirt to point to above his heart "Cittagaze."  
Then lifted his entire left arm. "Cloned limb. Midnight City."  
He then pointed to both of his eyes. "Artificial since 2102, original eye colour though."

"Operation return to sender failed because we were driven insane by a fucking Reaper." Said Hargreave bluntly, turning a few heads.

Zaeed whistled.  
"Shit." He said.

Zaeed looked around.  
"Say... Do you know how you're going to get to this war memorial?" Asked Zaeed.

"Not a clue." Answered Hargreave honestly.

Zaeed seemed to think things over for a few seconds as Hargreave finished off his burger.  
"You know, if you are still willing to do a job with me, I think I can get you there..." Said Zaeed.

Hargreave placed both his hands in front of himself.

"How?"

"Got a shitty land car planetside. Long drive, but for free." Said Zaeed.

"Free except for the job." Said Hargreave bluntly.

"It's an easy job. You know how to shoot?" Asked Zaeed.

To which, Hargreave merely shot him a look.

"Dumb question." Said Zaeed.

* * *

Turns out Memory traders don't like you steel half their products.

Greyboxs currently cannot share memories via the extranet or wirelessly. However, wire up a person, a Person's brain or just the Greybox to another person's and they can experience the memories of that person, or at least a few favourited ones. This meant for a low low low price you could experience a night out within a few minutes with none of the harm, yourself in the memory, rather then the original owner. Or you could learn some new skills quickly.

Or some real dark shit. The memories of Drug use, murder and suicide sold particularly well on the black market. It was those Zaeed and Me were stealing. The job was simple. Smash and grab in a cistern of the undercity, shoot anyone who shoots back.

Zaeed opened fire with his assault rifle, covering me as I ran back to cover beneath a hail of mass effect rounds.

Hargreave rolled over a table, flipped it over and took cover behind it, the bullets still tearing through the table. Fuck.

Why hadn't he brought an shield? Why did he join in? He hadn't been in a fight in literally half a century.

He saw stars, his hands began to shake... He saw... Dark stars.

 _Come to Carcosa._

With that hargreave stood up, aiming in a blink of an eye at the three assailants. One, Avenger m8 rifle, another plasma coil shotgun m-37. Finally, the Peace walker m-12 submachine gun.

hargreave fired nine shots, ignoring the searing pain in his liver as a round pierced through it, killing all three of them.

For a few seconds he stood there, waiting for more, before shaking his head and clutching his liver.

"HARGREAVE! Out of here!" Shouted Zaeed, running towards a ladder and the manhole above.

Hargreave reached into his backpack and withdrew some medical nanites, plunging the syringe into the tissue. The wound began to seal itself, though he'd double check the damage when he knew he was safe. He ran after Zaeed, grabbing onto the ladder and climbing up after him.

The two of them broke free into the midnight air of the city, still as bright as during the day, the skyscrapers, arcologies and stars looming above in silent witness.

The two of them ran through the crowded streets, Hargreave keeping a watch behind them, pistol in hand, whilst Zaeed lead the two of them.  
The two of them darted into a back alley, and Hargreave kept watch for a few seconds, gun raised, waiting for whatever might follow. He heard Zaeed shout after him before turning around a corner and Hargreave ran after him.

He passed round the corner.

 _The street was black, the lights blown. In the centre stood a man in ragged yellow robes. No. Not a man. He was about 8ft tall, with a crown of dark glass intertwined with Jade on his head. It had three closed eyes, two of them near the edge of it's face, one dead in the centre above a long flat nose. It's skin was grey, splattered with blood. In it's hand it held a dagger, which looked to be made of black metal, and looked almost Organic in appearance._

 _"We await for the Yellow king." It said, though it's mouth did not move._

 _It's eyes opened. They were blue and black. Hargreave recognised them instantly. Thrall eyes._

 _"Come. Come to Carcosa." It said._

 _"Hargreave!?" Shouted a voice._

 _"What are you?" Hargreave asked._

 _"Inevitable." It simply replied. "Come to Carcosa."_

Hargreave shook his head. He was in a back street, a large six wheeled vehicle in front of him, Zaeed leaning out of the drivers door.

"Hurry up!" Shouted Zaeed. Hargreave ran towards the vehicle and climbed into the other door, shutting it behind him as he attached his seat belt. Zaeed nodded and revved up the engine, before rushing out of the alley and into the night air road.

* * *

They had finally left the city and were ripping down the near empty superhighway. After all, what was the point of roads if everyone had shuttles? Except for the poor of course.

But the poor never left the city.

The sun was beginning to rise in front of them, lighting up the Euclid Forest below.

"You ever been on a real road trip before?" Asked Hargreave, sipping on a mega cup of Levo-Tupari.

"Nah. Everything's flying around now a days ain't it?" Said Zaeed, swigging from a bottle of beer.

Of course, should he go above a certain blood alcohol level the car would switch to auto drive. Hargreave figured he better check though.

"Yeah. I didn't disable that feature. Why aren't you drinking properly?" Asked Zaeed.

"Trying to cut down." Hargreave replied honestly. He changed the subject.  
"On Epsilon Eridani they've got these vacuum trains for transporting goods across the continent. When I was about 15 or so I ran away from home and smuggled aboard one and hitched hike across Sheng Ze. Did odd jobs for cash and places to stay. Was pretty fun."

Zaeed smiled.  
"I left home when I was fourteen to sign up. Life in the Johannesburg slums isn't fun." Said Zaeed.

"No shit." Said Hargreave.

"Then, after Keplerian war ended, well, there wasn't much left of Johannesburg. Wasn't much left of Luna either after those Cradle fucks detonated that dirty bomb. So, I left the military and went Merc, mostly protection detail for businessmen in places like Kruger or Byzantine." Zaeed explained. "It was after Citadel contact that work really exploded. Terminus systems seem to go to war every few months, plenty of business for someone with my talents."

"Terminus systems?" Hargreave asked.

"Ah, right. Massive area near the centre of the galaxy where the Citadel doesn't have much sway. Popular with Krogan and Batarian warlords or less moral companies seeking to experiment on things against Citadel or most human governments laws." Zaeed explained. "Anyway, I've spent the last four decades fighting in most every fucking war in that place."

"How'd you get this job?" Asked Hargreave.

"What? This grey job? Friend of a friend was looking for some Suicide memories, and I knew these grey junkies had some. I've tried it once. It's pretty messed up. You experience everything right up to the point of brain death. Really... fucks you up."

"I know the feeling." Said Hargreave.

"Hmm? You tried it?" Asked Zaeed.

Hargreave shook his head.

"Fifty years ago I had this Keplerian implant in my head causing hallucinations and driving me insane. I got an auto doc to get it out but I got... controlled by it and it made sure that I was fully conscious during the surgery. I eventually blacked out, but... It was not fun. I was pretty sure I actually died that day, but the Autodoc may have resuscitated me." Hargreave explained.

They stayed in silence for a few seconds, watching the dead straight road before Zaeed spoke again.

"God Damn." He said simply. To which Hargreave just laughed.

* * *

The midday sun was far above them now. They had reached the great Pythagorian desert. From the desert Hargreave could see great tall structures of black volcanic glass jutting out of the sand, surrounded by strange bulbous trees without leaves. Instead the entire plant was green and black. At the top of each branch was what looked like a misshapen lump of glass, which split the light into it's component colours.

In the sky, he saw the shadow of an enormous flying reptile, four great wings, two were it's arms would be and two on it's legs, with a massive long tail sticking out. It's mouth looked like that of a blue whale, and it soared through schools of tiny birds.

Hargreave diverted his eyes from the strange flora and fauna and noticed they were coming up to a lake and a colonial town on it's banks.

"Wanna grab something to eat?" Asked Hargreave, who had since taken over the wheel from Zaeed.

Zaeed stirred awake, looking out of the window.

"huh? Oh, yeah, sure."

Hargreave nodded and descended down the highway ramp, slowing the truck down.

Hargreave looked around, eventually coming across a "Grub and gulp."

"Ah shit. These places always fucking overcharge on drinks." Said Zaeed.

"Never been." Hargreave admitted as he parked the truck.

"Not drive through?" Asked Zaeed.

Hargreave undid his seatbelt and began to climb out of the truck, the glaring midday sun bouncing of the smooth metal.

"I'm not going to try and fit this through that." Said Hargreave.

Zaeed snorted. "Yeah I get that feeling."

Hargreave rolled his eyes and walked into the diner. The place was pretty empty, only a few colonial looking people tucking into their burgers and fries. The air conditioning was a nice touch, seeing as it was above 40°c outside.

"Can you order for me? I'll grab a table." Asked Hargreave.

"Grab a table? There's god damn no one... Sure." Zaeed replied.

Hargreave nodded his thanks and sat down in front of a window. He spared a glance to the cloudless blue sky, then opened his Omni-tool.

 _Carcosa_

 _A colony in the south of human colonised Orion territory. Created in 2124, this independent colony has never published a census report. The capital city of Carcosa is Carcosa, a city built around the great titanium mine located at the edge of Lake Crykranosh. The planet is known to consist mainly of wetlands, bayous and swamps. Sugar plantations are the number one grown crop and are one of the few exports form this isolationist colony._

 _It's immigration policy is incredibly strict, and it can take years to successfully apply for a visa, or even landing permission._

Known for it's...

"Howdy stranger." Said a voice, breaking Hargreave from his concentration.

He looked up, and saw a man with crisply cut blond hair and almost glowing blue eyes.

"Can I help you?" Asked Hargreave.

The man sat down opposite him.

"I saw that you are working with one Mr Zaeed Massani." Said the Man. "Is that correct?"

Hargreave's hand, already resting on his pistol, disengaged the safety.

"So what if it is?" Asked Hargreave.

"I have a job for him, though if you are also working with him two people will be excellent." Said the man.

Hargreave squinted a scrutinized the man. His clothes were unassuming, just a normal black suit with a sickly yellow tie.

"What's the job?" asked Hargreave.

"My clients daughter went missing and we believe it to be a dangerous cult. He would report this to the local authorities, but he has no idea how far their reach is. We need outside help." Said the man.

Zaeed sat down, two burgers, two fries and two drinks on his tray.

"Who the fuck are you?" Asked Zaeed, dropping the tray down and reaching into his shirt for his pistol.

"Mr Zaeed. I was just talking to your college here about a job offer." Said the man, not even blinking at the obvious threat. Hargreave nodded towards Zaeed and he sat down next to him, his hand still inside his shirt.

The man informed Zaeed of what he had told Hargreave of, before adding more.

"He fears that heavy firepower may be needed, which is why he isn't bringing in the Pinkertons or other private detective agencies." Said the man.

"Where and how much?" Asked Zaeed bluntly.

"30,000 credits initially, 100,000 once you find her." The man explained. "We'll cover travel costs and other expenses."

"Where." Stressed Zaeed.

The man spared a brief glance towards Hargreave before returning to Zaeed.

"Colony in the Orion south. Carcosa." Said the man.

* * *

Hargreave starred at his name upon the enormous lump of once molten steel and titanium.

It truly was massive, resting here at the top of a hill starring over the Archimedum Forest.

His name, lasered into the wall below "Harford, Zackery".  
 _Capt. Arthur Hargreave._

 _He stood aboard the Peqoud. Grahm had just handed him a report with a smile. Shepard was laughing at something Haskins had said. His holopalm was showing him a video of him and his brother opening Christmas presents when they were about 10, his granddad talking about back in his day._

 _He saw the quiet university city of Freedom's Reach, devoid of Arcologies or enormous skyscrapers. He saw his face, his cropped blond hair tussled by Shepard. He saw a medal on his chest for his valour in Operation Return to sender, and his actions during the battle of Sol._

 _He grabbed his son, with his mother's red hair, but his proud unblemished face, smiling at him. And then he saw, in the sky. Descended like the judges hammer, a dark star._

He walked out the structure, past a billion names, towards the rising sun.

He sat down at the edge of the ship and watched the world. He saw glowing spores of the great fungal trees, he saw the filtewasps dart between them. Floating high in the sky he saw the giant incandescent Aerozoan, it's tendrils floating below as smaller creatures climbed up them.

How alien a world. How alien a future.

"Sup." Said Zaeed, sitting next to him.

"Make the trade?" Asked Hargreave.

"Yeah. Here's your share." Said Zaeed, chucking a credit chit into his lap.

"Trading in human memories." Said Hargreave, mostly to himself.

"Strange future for you. See your own name?" Asked Zaeed.

"Yeah. I used the app they've got to show you a route to a name you search for." Said Hargreave bluntly.

"Same. Looked for... Well, they are dead now." Said Zaeed.

For a few moments neither of them said anything, deciding to just watch the glory of nature.

"Carcosa huh?" Asked Zaeed.

"Yeah. Sounds interesting." Hargreave lied. He hadn't told Zaeed his own reasons for signing up. He didn't mention the Yellow King.

"We've got to make a stop at this space station I've got some storage at. Grab some combat armour and decent guns." Said Zaeed.

"You're being awfully considerate." Said Hargreave, half accusingly.

It hadn't escaped his notice that Zaeed was being awfully helpful to him. Hargreave's number one idea was that he was a EEIS plant meant to keep an eye on him, though their meeting had been a bit too coincidental for that. Plus, he was pretty sure that despite everything, he doubted the EEIS wanted him to go and maybe get entangled with a possible Reaper cult.

"Don't think this is charity on my part. Anything you ruin you'll be paying for. Plus, I know you've got the skills to help. You're ex SOIG for fucks sake, couldn't really get more advanced training." Said Zaeed.

Hargreave sighed, looking across the fungal forest. And when he blinked _he saw dark stars._

Was he still indoctrinated? Just what was the Yellow King _they_ were waiting for?  
The answers lay in only one place. Carcosa.

"I'm ready when you are." Said Hargreave.

* * *

 _ **Byzantine-Circe 2173**_

 _Byzantine is a colony only 100 ly from the core region. It's well known to be a rich and prosperous colony, with many corporations having their HQ's and research labs there. The population remains a cool 6 billion. Most life are immigrants from Earth, though native multicellular life remains in the polar regions and in the Eston badlands._

 _ **Grub and Gulp**_

 _Popular fast food burger restaurant in Orion space._

 _ **Authors notes:**_ _  
_ _ **I will properly continue Shepard's story next, which won't have nearly as much cosmic horror stuff in it. Yet.  
See you later.**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Alcubierre: NEO-TOKYO  
Chapter 4: He-who-stares**_

He looked over his equipment. Non-Newtonian black armour, slightly better than what people used for motorcycle armour. Combat webbing for grenades, holsters and food. He had his pistol, and Zaeed had lent him a Durandel m-6 semi automatic assault rifle.

Hargreave stretched and stood up, pacing slightly around in the back of the shuttle.  
"Nothing wrong with getting some sleep." said Zaeed, leaning back in his chair, his head down and eyes closed.

"Depends on what you see." said Hargreave.

The dreams had been getting worse. Carcosa. The Yellow king. Hargreave still didn't have a clue about what it meant, but the visions, some of death, some of shadows, some of decay...

Zaeed rolled his shoulders as he stood up out of the seat too.

"Grab a coat. Something large enough to cover the fact we look like we're dressed to start a war." said Zaeed.  
As he said this, Zaeed reached into a metal footlocker beneath his chair, and withdrew a cotton lump which he threw to Hargreave.

"You know this isn't the bloody 1950's?" Asked Hargreave, holding up the trench coat in front of him with a pithy look on his face.

"You try and wear something large enough to hide body armour." Zaeed replied as he simply put the coat on.

Hargreave rolled his eyes but followed suit.  
"Look like we're going to shoot up a school." He mumbled.

"Less of that." Admonished Zaeed playfully.

"15 minutes till planetfall." said a synthetic voice.

"So... we aren't stopping in Carcosa city?" Asked Hargreave.

"Na, first thing is we talk to Mr Whately." Said Zaeed. "He's got his damn sugar plantation about 30km west. Little colonial town nearby too, we'll ask around about similar disappearances."

"And then we hit Carcosa?" Asked _hargreave, his voice chilling._

 _He felt it first. A slight cough, when he did so instead of mucus there was brown metallic dust. Rust. His organs scratched and tore against each other, hardening and rusting exposed to an environment they did not belong to. A scratching noise in the back of his mind, and a figure, standing behind Zaeed._

 _Tall, flat nosed with three eyes, and a crown of rust and dark glass, the jade now gone. It's eyes opened, and they were swirling blood red. Carcosa. Carcosa._  
 _Hargreave felt an unbearable sadness, and the creature continued to cry. It shrieked, thrashing around Zaeed, throwing bags around and tearing into the metal walls of the shuttle._

 _Then all of a sudden the figure stood stock still and stared straight into Hargreave's eyes, ignoring the bloody mess that had once been it's hands._  
 _"We await the yellow king."_

 _And the figure pointed with maimed fingerless hands. Straight at Hargreave. He felt something terrible grip his heart, and he fell to the floor, clutching his chest in pain. He coughed up again, a great heave of rust._

 _"We await the yellow king." Said Azmorethran._

"Buddy? You alright?" Asked Zaeed, his hand on Hargreave's shoulder. Hargreave looked at the floor, to the small puddle and drops of blood he coughed up. There was no rust.

"...Yeah I'm fine." Said Hargreave, shrugging off the hand and standing up.

His hallucinations were getting worse. If Hargreave was a paranoid man, and after fifty years unconscious because he wasn't paranoid enough, he thought he was, he'd think he was somehow being exposed to a Reaper device that was continuing to indoctrinate him. He had no proof, and he doubted that the EEIS would want an indoctrinated lunatic running around, but the facts were that he felt himself slipping into the same madness and terror that gripped him aboard the Midnight City. Well, almost.

There was no definitive voice of a _dark star_ inside his head, he was fully in control of his body and his words verbally. Occasionally slips of the mind aside, he was mostly able to pose as a sane man. His memories were utterly his own, he was rather sure of that, rather than the shared unconsciousness of other indoctrinees.

Something was drawing him to Carcosa. He knew that for sure. The word had been on his mind since he had awoken. They seemed to be a part of his indoctrination, which terrified him. Did others exposed to the Reapers dream of the city of Carcosa? A quiet backwater colony?

And what did that mean? Hargreave wasn't sure he'd like the answer, but he'd need it all the same.

He out the trench coat on, ran a hand through his steel grey hair and took several quick breaths.

* * *

Three men came to greet them as the shuttle landed on the private shuttle-pad of Mr Whately, and Hargreave was pretty confident in saying none of them were the man himself. They were young looking, like most everyone was still nowadays, with cropped blond hair and glowing blue eyes, clearly artificial. They were dressed in white suits, and despite the muggy heat of the Bayou there entire bodies bare there hands and head were covered by the clothe. Hargreave's armour at least was self heating and cooling, as he thankfully discovered, though that did little good for his head, which was already beginning to sweat in the moist air. The shuttle-pad was about one hundred metres from a rather opulent mansion, looking like a high tech version of a southern plantation from Earth's past. Despite the clear expense of the house, the swamp was around the manor was barely kept at bay, the impossibly tall Mangrove and willow trees looming over the garden, casting long shadows on the eerily pale grass.

The three men each wore the same polite smile, but it was the middle one who spoke.

"Welcome Mr Massani. Mr Prestoria." Said the man. "Mr Whately would like to meet you inside. Please follow us."

Hargreave and Zaeed shared a look before nodding and following behind the three men, each walking in perfect step with each other, almost like clockwork.

Hargreave continued to look around, his eyes falling on the slow river behind the house, before he continued around the front.

The servants opened the door for the two of them and they stepped inside the manor, the servants remaining outside, their arms folded behind their backs as they watched the two of them in silent judgement.

Hargreave and Zaeed looked at the man at the bottom of the grand white staircase, drinking straight liquor from a whiskey glass.

He wore a pristine three piece white suit, much more fine than his servants, with a dark red bow tie. Only that and his black shoes stood out against the overwhelming gleaming white.

His face was old, Hargreave guessed around 50 or 60 pre Telomere project, though obviously he had no idea he actually was, perhaps in his mid 100's. He had grey hair, impeccably groomed, and a shock white moustache. Oddly enough he too was covering his neck, and wore white leather gloves on his hands. His had dull blue eyes, so dark he could barely see the pupil. He threw back the glass, swallowing it's contents before placing it on the bannister of the staircase and looking at the two of them.

"So. You're the two men Kiromen hired?" asked the man, a trace of a southern American accent mixed with Brazilian was an odd combination, seeing as the servants spoke like the came from the Midwestern USA.

"Indeed." Said Zaeed drolly.

Whately studied Zaeed briefly before turning his gaze to Hargreave. His gaze fell upon him for much much longer, looking up up and down before staring at his right temple. Eventually Mr Whately spoke again.

"How much do you two know already?" Asked Mr Whately, his gaze still on Hargreave.

Zaeed spoke first.  
"You're daughter has gone missing. You want her found no matter the damage done. Something about a cult?" Asked Zaeed.

"Not much then." Mr Whately sighed. He walked around briefly, forming the words in his heads before he spoke again.

"Three weeks ago, my daughter disappeared. She had joined this cult with her boyfriend called "The church of the Yellow King." I was worried before, but now I'm terrified. They've got a church in Carcosa city itself, though when I went there they said they didn't know where she was." Said Mr Whately.

"Has anyone else disappeared?" Asked Hargreave.

Mr Whately seemed to think on this for a few seconds, mulling the question in his mind for a few moments too long.

"Yes. One of my workers Mr Presley's wife disappeared a few months back, and he insists it's the cults fault. But the Church has a large amount of power on people, and his attempted investigation went nowhere. Perhaps you can talk to him about it." Said Mr Whately.

"Do you happen to know where he is?" Asked Hargreave.

"Actually yes. He hangs out in the bar in the nearby town of Leng." Said Mr Whately. "Poor fool is beside himself in grief, and is quickly drinking himself to death. Turning to the devil's drink in his misery."

Hargreave raised an eyebrow at that, seeing as Mr Whately had been drinking as they came in, but quickly schooled his features and kept that titbit to himself.

"Why haven't you gone to the local law enforcement?" Asked Zaeed.

Mr Whately shot him a droll look.

"The church runs Carcosa, and they are firmly under their thumb. They've let stuff go in the past. A manslaughter charge here, a corruption charge there. The minister's own son is the chief of police in the city itself. They'd never run an actual investigation." Said Mr Whately.

"What can you tell us about the Church?" Asked Hargreave.

Mr Whately briefly looked taken aback by the question but quickly recovered.

"They are as old as colony itself. It's initial leadership is all dead but the minister Hasturn Chambers runs it now. They believe in something called the dark stars that will bring salvation upon the galaxy. The wider galaxy labels them one of those demented "Reaper cults" that sprung up after the Keplerian war." Whately explained. "They made a lot of money in the early days of the colony selling Keplerian tech from a ship that crashed here years ago, but it's all gone now. It relies on the Titanium mine for money. I tried to buy it out from under them, Carcosa is sat on an enormous vein, but they refused."

"Keplerian tech?" Asked Hargreave.

"Yeah. Um... I think it was a frigate or something. I moved here about a decade after the colony was founded." Said Mr Whately.

Keplerian tech. Reaper tech. Interesting.

"Thank you. Well, we'll get started." Said Zaeed.

Mr Whately threw his arm out.  
"Feel free to use my shuttle. I wish you luck." he said.

The two of them nodded as the Servants finally stepped inside the manor. The meaning was clear. Hargreave and Zaeed followed them out, several questions and theories running through Hargreave's mind.

* * *

The town of Leng was as provincial as they came. Prefab plastic buildings of simple squares, streets of raised metal above the swamp floor.

Parking the shuttle in the park of the bar, Hargreave and Zaeed walked in. No one seemed to be looking at them, indeed, their eyes stay far away from them, though Hargreave noticed most of them had organic or at least realistic eyes. The bar itself was dark, the metal walls decorated with hunting trophies of strange alien creatures.

Behind the bar was a serving robot like the one back on Epsilon Eridani. And at the bar itself was a middle aged man, nursing a glass of whiskey. Hargreave and Zaeed moved to sit on either side of him, Hargreave forcing himself not to order anything.

"You Mr Pressly?" Asked Hargreave. The man sighed.

"Finally 'ere to... fin...Finish off the job are ya'?" he asked in return, slurring his words. Hargreave studied the man closer. He had neck length salt and pepper hair that looked like in hadn't been washed in a week, puffy red eyes and cheeks. He was slouched over the bar with both hands on the glass, shaking as he brought it to his mouth.

"We here to ask you a few questions." Zaeed said simply.

The man sighed.

"Yeah. I'm Mr Pressly." He said glumly.

"I'm Mr Massani, this is Mr Prestoria. We heard your wife disappeared a few months back. We're looking for another disappeared woman and we think the two are connected." Said Zaeed.

Suddenly Pressly dropped the glass on the counter-top and rounded on Hargreave.  
"What do you want me to say! That the fucking church took her? That everyone is too scared to help!?" Pressly angrily asked.

"Do you have any proof?" Hargreave asked, subtly wiping his face free of the spittle.

Pressly sighed.

"Not really. But I know. She went to a meeting of hers and had one of those bizarre tests they do to acolytes." Said Pressly.

"Tests?" Asked Hargreave curiously/

Pressly looked at the two of them in confusion, before barking out a painful laugh.

"Yeah. They claim it's to see your "genetic diversity" or some bullshit. Must be cause they are a bunch of inbred fuckers. Carcosan's are a fucking ugly lot, with their creepy glowing eyes..." Said Pressly, before he looked into Hargreave's eyes. His face paled.

"I'm not one of them. I lost my eyes seventy years ago." said Hargreave. "And these are the original colour."

Pressly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, anyway. She tested well apparently, and they were saying she could become a full acolyte and travel to Carcosa." Said Pressly. "She refused. She's got a full time job here in Leng and was only checking the church out because her friend asked her to."

"When did she disappear?" Asked Zaeed.

Pressly seemed to think on this for a moment.

"About four days after she took that test. I came home from work one day and she wasn't there. She usually gets home before I do... did. But it wasn't unheard of for her to work late so I waited. And waited. She never came. I asked around town, when the local priest of that fucking cult said that he had contacted the police. I knew what that meant. Everyone knows the Church controls the law In this godforsaken colony." Pressly explained.

"Did anyone see her on the days she disappeared?" Asked Hargreave. "At her work or..."

"No. They said she never even arrived at the hospital. Missed her shift. I saw her leave for work, so she disappeared between then and the 10 minute flight to the hospital?" Said Pressly.

"She drove a shuttle?" asked Zaeed.

"Yeah. Disappeared with her." Pressly replied.

"You report it stolen? Even if the Church control the police missing property is still missing property." Said Zaeed.

Hargreave thought for a few moments.

"Don't shuttles have GPS tracking?" asked Hargreave.

"Not here. Carcosa doesn't have many satellites, just a comm buoy in orbit. No GPS here." Said Pressly.

Fucking Colonial backwaters.

"So you're pretty sure the Church is behind her disappearance?" Asked Zaeed.

"Yeah. I don't know anything about them really. I've never been to Carcosa itself. I was one of the initial settlers before the city was set up and church really began." Said Pressly. "But everyone here lives in absolute fear of them. I mean, what kind of mad men worship a Keplerian ship, a broken one at that."

Hargreaves eyes glazed over slightly before he blinked away the water.

"What is this Yellow king?" Asked Hargreave. Pressly seemed confused by the question.

"Fuck would I know, I ain't one of them." Said Pressly.

Hargreave sighed, which drew Zaeed's attention briefly, before he returned to Pressly.

"Thank you for your time." Said Zaeed, standing up off the bar stool, Hargreave following shortly behind.

"Wait!" Shouted Pressly. Hargreave and Zaeed turned around.

"I... Never mind." Said Pressly, returning to his drink, tears in his eyes.

Hargreave and Zaeed shared a shrug, before stepping out of the dark bar and leaving the man to his grief.

They knew where they would be heading next.

* * *

The actual church of the Church of the Yellow King was rather ordinary looking. A simple Prefab hall, with row upon row of cheap wooden benches. There was a raised stage with a stand and an altar behind that. Atop the altar was a strange stature, but before Hargreave could get a good look at it Hargreave looked to the priest.

He didn't wear robes or anything like that. Just a simple suit, his collar high and wearing black leather gloves. His blue eyes were darting between him and Zaeed.

"Carcosa doesn't often get new folk." Said the priest simply. "How may I help you... Mr?"

"Massani. This is Prestoria. We are here to ask a few questions." Said Zaeed.

"Oh? Are you cops?" Asked the priest.

"No, just some people Mr Pressly hired." Said Hargreave, lying through his teeth.

"I wasn't aware Mr Pressly had that kind of cash or pull to bring in offworlders." Said the priest, looking quizzically at the two of them.

"I guess you can work out why we are here?" Asked Zaeed.

The priest nodded and at least pretended to look sad.  
"Mrs Pressly's disappearance. Such a sad story. She wasn't one of my flock but I grieve for her all the same. Mr Pressly hasn't been the same since she disappeared." The priest said, his eyes looking at his shoes, a sad frown on his face.

"Did she ever try out the church? Even the non-religious occasionally try spiritual guidance." Said Hargreave, trying to sound affable.

"Only once. I swear, the two of them have lived on Carcosa for years and yet they never tried it. She came in about two weeks before she disappeared. She seemed receptive to our teaching." Said the priest.

Hargreave's expression temporarily hardened before he relaxed. Someone was lying about the timing, and he was pretty sure it was "Mr no.1 suspect" over here.

"Satiate my curiosity. What are the teachings of the Church?" Asked Hargreave.

The priest finally smiled.

"We believe in these things called Reapers. They are ancient gods that formed the galaxy from dark stars and entropy. They created the Mass Relays and seeded the universe with organic life. We believe that when a species matures from our simple physical bodies they ascend into a new Reaper and aid in the renewal of the galaxy. They reset the universe when the shadow of entropy set in and protect us from our mistakes." Said the priest, his arms gesturing as he talked. "They ensure that life will never be truly extinguished."

"I see. And how did the church begin?" asked Hargreave. Zaeed folded his arms across his chest, interested to see where this might lead.

"I'm afraid that information is only available for church members, but I can offer you a PDF and our holo-adress if you are interested in learning more." Said the priest.

Hargreave shot the man a fake smile.  
"Thank you." Said Hargreave. He finally spared another glance to the stature atop the altar. A figure holding a dagger above it's head, ready to plunge it as if it was an Aztec ready to commit a human sacrifice. It had a twisted crown atop it's head, though it's face lacked definition, simply being blank.

"What is the Yellow King?" Asked Hargreave.

The Priest smile grew even wider.

"I'm afraid that is also church knowledge." Said the Priest.

Zaeed finally stepped in.

"Do you know about Mr Whately's daughter?" Asked Zaeed.

The priest's smile fell and he squinted his eyes.

"Mr Whately has been a lifelong opponent of the Church. He bans any member of our flock from working for him, which is terrible since he owns most of the businesses outside of Carcosa. Luckily he doesn't own anything within the city itself, so many of our members choose to head there for work. She likely simply followed her boyfriend since Mr Whately refused him work." Said the Priest.

"Did she or her boyfriend ever talk to you about heading towards Carcosa?" Asked Zaeed.

"I'm afraid not. Her boyfriend was quite high ranking in the church, but he had his demons he'd rather not talk about. He intended to absolve himself before the High Minister himself." Said the priest.

"All signs point to Carcosa then." Said Hargreave. Zaeed nodded.  
Even in the unlikely case that Mr Whately's daughter wasn't taken, Pressly's wife more than likely was. The priest was talking out of his fucking ass, and was a god-damned Reaper cultist regardless.

No one and nothing should worship _Azmorethran._

 _Hargreave looked towards the stature, as it's head turned, it's blank face squinting at him._

 _Lost Carcosa_  
 _Dim Carcosa_  
 _Lost Carcosa_

 _Hargreave walked towards the stature, the priest and Zaeed frozen behind him._

 _Hargreave felt the fire around him, felt the rain of molten glass tear through him, even through the excruciating pain he continued to slowly walk towards the stature. But the hall seemed to extend further and further with every step. He blinked one moment, his armour and coat replaced with tattered yellow robes, his bare chest scarring from the molten rain around him. Again he blinked, and he felt the tears of blood fall. Then he felt it. His remaining skin cracked to show the mess of circuits and metal beneath, black and blue spreading across him._

 _All at once he heard a hundred billion souls crying out, praying to him. They prayed for protection. Protect them._  
 _Protect them from their creations. Protect them from their creators. Protect them from their machines. Grant them a home. Give them transcendence._  
 _Protect them. Protect them from the darkness, protect them from the slavers. Protect them from the voices inside their mind._

 _Protect them, from the silence._

 _Half a trillions prayers in a million tongues, all either dead or dying. The ceiling fell away, and Hargreave felt himself soar into the air, starring down on the world. A great many cities scattered across the planet, and it's inhabitants praying to it, their arms raised in reverence. He was here to deliver them. He would make them him._

 _The Crown tore into his brow, and blue blood fell from the wounds. His one great red eye fell on a single building, and the building tumbled. He stepped forward, as the billions of subjects marched to their transcendence. They would become Azmorethran. They would become him._

Hargreave opened his eyes, the priests adoring eyes fully upon them, before Hargreave closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Thank you for your time." Said Hargreave, beginning to walk out of the church.

"Goodbye Mr Massani. Mr Hargreave." Said the priest with a smile.

The two of them stepped outside, a light rain falling over the bayou.

"Mother fucker's lying." Said Massani.

"Obviously." Hargreave replied, reaching into one of the pouches on his combat webbing and getting a cigarette and a lighter out. He placed the cigarette in his mouth. The two of them began to walk back to the shuttle, Hargreave desperately trying to get his lighter to work.

Night was beginning to fall on the planet, with days lasting 35 hours on this planet it was going to prove a long night, and Hargreave didn't want to go to Carcosa in darkness.

"Mr Massani! Prestoria!" Shouted a familiar voice. The two of them turned to Mr Pressly.

"Yes?" Asked Zaeed whilst Hargreave continued to try and light the cigarette, only half listening to the conversation.

"I want to help. I know you aren't looking for her your the best chance I'll ever have to find my wife. I want... regardless of whether she's dead or alive I need closure." Said Pressly.

Hargreave's mind seemed to replaying the conversation with the priest, something not sitting right with him.

"Look, buddy..." Said Zaeed.

"Look. You need a place to stay tonight? I've got a house here, and I don't think you want to sleep in your shuttle." Said Pressly.

Zaeed sighed, looking to Hargreave, who was starring straight ahead of himself, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Zaeed shrugged.

"Sure." said Zaeed.

 _Something isn't right_ Hargreave thought to himself.

 _"Goodbye Mr Massani..."  
_

Hargreave's cigarette fell from his mouth, as something sharp plunged into his neck. His vision narrowed and dimmed as he saw both Zaeed and Pressly fall into the mud, Hargreave following shortly behind.  
 _I am Mr Prestoria_

* * *

 ** _Codex:_**

 _The Migrant Fleet: Circe 2180_

 _The Quarians, after the Geth uprising, were forced into a nomadic lifestyle. Since they threw away their place in the council by flaunting it's laws and creating artificial sapient life, the Quarians have been forced to live on the edge of council space, or driven into the Terminus. With the discovery of humanity, the once somewhat cohesive group has split into two, with roughly a quarter joining up with the Borderless fleet of humans, and another keeping to themselves. In a strange quirk, it is the group that travels with the billion or so humans of the Borderless fleet that continues their culture heritage of Pilgrimage and ancestor worship. The other group, the migrant fleet, have taken to a less nomadic lifestyle, being a key player in the politics of the Terminus systems. This has seeming worked for them, as the population has risen from the Pre Schism high of 16 million to 50 million, with approximately 10 million within the Borderless fleet and 40 million in the terminus._

 _Both sides plan to eventually retake Rannoch. But as Quarians are a minority within the Borderless council, it is unlikely they will successfully drag the fleet into a war for quite some time._

 _The Migrant fleet on the other hand has become the largest Mercenary fleet in the galaxy and are making overt designs on the Pegasus arm._

 _The Migrant fleet has changed worship of the ancestors, who they hold had betrayed them by creating the Geth and damning them to exile, to the Cult of the Sovereign One._

 _Little is understood of this strange religion, but it is believed to be fairly popular in the terminus system thanks to the ubiquity of Quarian mercenaries._


	14. Chapter 14

_**Alcubierre: Neo-Tokyo  
Chapter five: Into-the-Abyss**_

 _2112_

 _Hargreave desperately kept his hand away from the gun in his jacket. The pistol felt heavy, a 5.56mm revolver, loud, stupid, the exact kind of gun a colonial gangster might have._

 _61 cygni had never been exactly prosperous. Close to Sol, it had enjoyed the fruits of the early years of colonisation, but as the system lacked a garden world, most of the people lived in orbital structures, mostly habitats and dorms attached to the great shipyards. If you captained a spaceship, it was likely built in 61 cygni. Though even now a system to the galactic north called Shang Ze was rapidly catching up. Within the next decade it may well replace it as more and more of the metal rich asteroids are used up in the system._

 _But Hargreave wasn't here to think about the economy of a solar system. His job was a little more... Radioactive._

 _Hargreave kept leaning against the wall, though in the low gravity of the station it was almost more effort to try and lean than to stand still. Still, the human perception would naturally ignore someone with their head down leaning against a wall. Hargreave subtly watched the myriad of faces walking by. He saw a group of Kekistani's, with their dubs and trips tattooed on their foreheads. Low ranking members._

 _He saw Mormons, leaflets in hand. He saw what were clearly Borderless pirates, probably nervous about being this close to the core systems. They weren't his target though._

 _Finally, he saw two women walking towards him, one with a rucksack on her back, another with a heavy looking briefcase. Hargreave's eyes widened momentarily before narrowing. There was no way that contained the nuclear weapon he was buying. Far too small. So what was it?_

 _The two women finally stopped in front of him, and Hargreave gently pushed off the wall, slowing returning to a normal standing position._

 _"You Prestoria?" Asked one of the women. Amateurs. How on Epsilon did they get hands on nukes?_

 _Hargreave subtly moved the fingers on his left hand, behind his back, typing out a message with his holopalm._

 _Through his artificial eyes, he saw what he was typing._

 _"Where is it?"_

 _The woman, the one with the briefcase, seemed to unfocus her eyes for a few seconds. She seemed to have subtle artificial eyes, a dull brown colour, but he knew they were cheap. He could see the iris focusing and unfocusing, and even saw tiny blue letters and words dance across the black pupils._

 _She held her hand out in front of her and began to type._

 _"Aboard our ship." She responded._

 _Hargreave gritted his teeth. There was no way he was going to go on board her ship and risk getting kidnapped. He instinctively fiddled with his micro-explosive tooth using his tongue. Worst case scenario._

 _"No way. We make the drop in a public place." He typed._

 _The woman took a few seconds to respond._

 _"It weighs 700kg." She responded. "And we have customs officers."_

 _"I am paying them for a reason aren't I?" Hargreave responded. In truth one of them was a EEIS agent, a more traditional one than Hargreave._

 _The two women looked at each other and seemed to have a private conversation merely by looking at each other. Hargreave's gun seemed to weigh heavier and heavier on his mind._

 _"Which dock?" typed the one with the backpack._

 _Hargreave grinned wryly._

 _"Dock 6."_

 _90909_

 _Hargreave looked at the crate. It was rather large, but weighed a lot less in the 0.3g's of the station. Still, more than he could carry. The lead plating blocked his Geiger counter, so Hargreave ordered the two women to open the crate. They seemed to do so with little problem._

 _Inside was a human carcass. It had black flesh and blue blood intertwined with normal flesh. He looked to be in his 20's, which could have meant anything nowadays. He looked at Hargreave._

 _" **Human**."_

 _"Grahm." Said Hargreave, his face ageing, his hair greying._

 _" **Human.** " Said another voice. Hargreave turned around, to see Corporal Tetsuo, with half of her face missing._

 _" **Reaper.** " said another voice, this time it was Hatigew. Hatigew and Mathers. Mathers and Paskins and Kazinsky and a thousand others in one. Their faces screaming in pain, a great mass of a thousand people, screaming at him in half a dozen tongues._

 _" **Reaper.** " cried another voice. And another. Guttural and slurred._

 _The cries turned to chants._  
 _Reaper._  
 _Reaper._  
 _Reaper._

 _Hargreave gripped his head, his eyes clenched shut._  
 _Reaper._  
 _Reaper._  
 _Hargreave._  
 _Harbinger_  
 _Yellow_  
 _King_

 _When Hargreave opened his eyes, he was surrounded by strange aliens. They were bowing to him, on their knees, their heads down, but their arms raised to him. Some of them were mixes of black flesh and blue wiring, others more... unclean._

 _They surrounded him. First merely six. Then twelve. Then twenty four. More. More. More and more joined the choir of_  
 _Reaper._  
 _Reaper._  
 _Hargreave._  
 _Yellow king._  
 _Yellowstone._  
 _Reaper._

 _Hargreave turned around, these aliens bowing to him as far as he could see. He was standing in a great stone hall, which seemed to stretch for miles and miles in all directions, only the pillars suggesting they were inside anywhere at all._

 _Hargreave blocked his ears, the noise growing deafening. A thousand voices. A million._

 _Billions. Billions of voicing chanting his name. Chanting Reaper Reaper Reaper._

 _Hargreave looked up, to see a great red eye._

 _Hargreave fell to his knees, his ears bleeding. Finally, a great yellow light split the building apart. The choir slowly but surely quieted, the shadows growing longer and longer, covering the choir, blocking his sight until he could barely see five feet in front of him._

 _Hargreave stood up and as he did so the room seemed to alight anew. He found himself amid a sea of stars. Nebulas and stars, black holes and quasars, galaxies and supernovas._

 _Then, one by one, these great lights blink out, the stars growing dimmer and dimmer, further and further apart. Hargreave felt a terrible chill grip his heart._

 _A single figure strode out of the darkness. It looked like one of the aliens that had bowed to him, but different. Taller, yet scrawnier. Hargreave could see it's ribs. See it's heart beating inside it's chest. It had three red eyes, swirling with dark shadows. Atop it's head it wore a crown of rust and dark glass._

 _Hargreave felt an unbearable fear. He fell to his knees and begged. He wasn't proud enough. If he begged the silence would go away. The light would return anew. He would return. He prayed. He prayed to the silent figure. He prayed to end his suffering. To end his pain. Prayed to return to when he was young. When he was five and twenty. To when he was whole. When he could not see and hear their prayers._

 _But the figure remained as silent as the grave. Hargreave lowered his head, moving to kiss it's feet._

 _He must prostrate himself. Lower himself below anything he'd been before. Before the great abyss of dark and cold, he was nothing._

 _The figure spoke. With Hargreave's voice._

 _"Become the Yellow King."_

 _Hargreave wept. Yes. Become the Yellow king. Wear the crown and rebuild. Become whole._

* * *

Hargreave's awakening had not been the most pleasant experience. Lying down in the back of a hover shuttle, just as it was landing.

 _Looks like they didn't have much CN-90-1_

He tried to move, but his hands and ankles were cuffed, connected to each other by a very short chain behind him. Hargreave decided to wait, and stopped struggling. He looked towards his co-passengers. Both Zaeed and Pressly were still out cold.

Hargreave held back his gulps. He still had no idea where he was.

He heard the door slide open and felt himself being dragged out, thrown to a metal floor. Hargreave wheezed, before two further bodies were thrown on top of him.

Hargreave wearily opened his eyes, to see dark storm clouds gathering on the horizon. His vision grew brighter and he took in the site. He was atop some large building, at the edge of a city. A city sloping downwards towards a great sink-hole. The city was huge, with hundreds of buildings, none larger than ten stories though. Surrounded the city was a great black metal wall, encircling it from all sides.

Hargreave felt Pressly and Zaeed being pulled off him, before he too was dragged to his feet.

As he stood up, his vision darkened from the sudden movements. When his vision returned, he was face to face with a man in his early twenties, smiling from ear to ear, his glowing blue eyes boring into him. He wore tattered yellow robes interspersed with shards of dark glass, which seemed to regularly cut into his skin if the stains on the robe were any indication.

"Mr Arthur James Hargreave. Glad to finally meet you." Said the man.

Hargreave went cold. How one earth did they...

"EEIS tried their best, but the paper trail was there. EXALT might have just thrown you to the side, but we've been meaning to greet you for quite a while." Said the man, his pearly white teeth shining even in the dimming light.

"I have no idea... That the guy from that war movie?" asked Hargreave. Hargreave coughed as a fist plunged into his stomach unexpectedly, before he felt a hand stroke his cheek.

"I'm sorry Mr Hargreave, but if you... Act out I might have no choice to repeat myself." Said the man.

Hargreave leant back, still in the grip of someone else, before sighing.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked.

Impossibly, the man's smile seemed to widen.

"Hasturn Chambers. Humble high minister of the Church of Yellow King. At your service." Said the man.

"Kindly tell me why you've kidnapped three innocent men?" Asked Hargreave, growling.

Instead of answering the question, Hasturn turned to his two men. The one holding Pressly nodded, whilst the other shook his head.

Hasturn drew a pistol from his robes. The man holding Zaeed leant back.

"Three?" asked Hasturn.

Hasturn placed the gun under Zaeed's chin, facing upwards, and pulled the trigger. Zaeed's skull split open, and he somehow slumped even more. Hargreave flinched, his face whitening as the man simply dropped Zaeed to the floor like a bag of flour.

As blood pooled around Hasturn's bare feet, Hasturn held Hargreave's chin and dragged his head to look at him.

"EXALT will have to try better than that."

A billion thoughts ran through Hargreave's head.

"What the hell! What the fuck is EXALT!" shouted Hargreave.

Hasturn merely laughed at that, the blood on his face dripping down it like tears.

"Oh you really do not know anything do you Mr Hargreave? No matter." Said Hasturn. He turned to Hargreave's minder, currently gripping onto his chains like his life depended on it.

"Take them to the Cathedral." Said Hasturn. He once again turned to Hargreave.

"Indulge me Mr Hargreave. What was it like?" Said Hasturn.

"She was a rather bad fuck. And the queue was dreadful. Honestly, if she wasn't so bad I'd tell your mum to increase her rates." Barked Hargreave defiantly.

Hargreave felt the cold and biting slap, but that did nothing to dull the fury in his eyes.

"When you looked upon Azmorethran. Upon god. How did it feel?" Asked Hasturn.

Hargreave was struck.  
"When god spoke to you, was it not the most glorious thing you had ever experienced. To be one with the billions of his children? Now how many are there? Only one truly I suppose." Said Hasturn.

Hargreave actually mulled over the question.

"Like having your brain stabbed with broken glass, then those broken shards moving your arms and legs for you. Trapped within your mind, screaming forever." Said Hargreave, grinning through the pain.

Hasturn's eyes narrowed, but he did not accept that answer.

"No. It is a choir. A choir of freedom. All of us joined in one heavenly voice. One heavenly purpose, in service to one great goal." Said Hasturn. "Could you not imagine a greater blessing?"

"No Sir." Said the three men on the shuttle-pad with them.

"No. Such exaltation. Such glory." Preached Hasturn, looking into the sky _as dark stars shone through the storm clouds._

Hargreave tried one last desperate attempt to break free, before a sack was placed over his head.

He felt the still hot barrel in the small of his back, the cold blood pooling on his clothes, and felt him being dragged off the building.

* * *

He had no idea how long he had been here. Days? Weeks? Months?  
For the last five of those, he had been in a dark room, chained by his ankles and wrists and hanging from the ceiling. He had a strip of yellow clothe around his mouth, and he could not talk through it.

 _I am going to die here. I am going to die here.  
Finally._

Even wide awake he dreamt.

He dreamed of a bartender with a robot arm. Of sitting on his grandfather's knee as he told him of the early days of space colonisation. Watching the plume of smoke and the raining fire of Cittagaze.  
He'd done so much.

Hargreave sighed. He was not a good man. He was barely a man anymore. An insane hallucinating mess. He had truly died aboard the Midnight city.

Hargreave was still simply blankly starring into the dark when the door to his cell opened.

Two men dressed in yellow tattered robes, wearing black metal masks, walked in carrying an LED light.

It was time he supposed.

A button was pressed, and Hargreave collapsed to the floor, winded by the sudden impact. Before he could even react, perhaps make some dash for freedom, he was gripped by the biceps and dragged out of the room.

Hargreave blinked, adapting to the light. He was dragged through a metal hallway. In the distance, quietly, he heard chanting. Singing.

Hargreave tried to steel himself. Clearing his throat and getting to his feet, standing tall, above his two captors. He'd die with some dignity at least. He'd be joining the others soon. He'd been joining Cittagaze in hell.

He marched, the stomping of feet ringing in his head. The lights above flickered upon his face.

Hargreave closed his eyes and sighed. He turned to his right.

Zaeed. Hatigew. Grahm and Tetsuo. Alejandro and Vaatia.

They spoke silently.

He will join them.

He looked to his left, and saw uncountable millions. Cittagazeans. Kepler-138b citizens. Santiago and Asgard. Sol and Tau Ceti.

It was him. He had been the one that brought the Keplerian war upon them. If he had known what his crew were doing... If he had blown up the ship... If he hadn't stolen that vessel. If he hadn't let Grahm stay implanted.

Hargreave's kill count stood at five billion souls. He was the greatest murderer in human history. Only darkness and oblivion awaited him.

Hargreave lowered his head and closed his eyes, the chanting growing louder and louder.

He heard a door open, the chanting grew deafening, though he still could not make out the words.

As he looked up and opened his eyes he felt a million eyes look upon him. All glowing blue.

Hargreave was dragged left, onto a stage, towards a table of black glass. Behind it stood Hasturn, his arms raised in prayer. He opened his eyes and smiled an impossibly wide smile as Hargreave was placed on the table, chained to it.

His shirt was torn open, and Hargreave's bare hairy chest was exposed to the world. He could only look up at Hasturn began to speak, the hall silent.

"Ahornah n'ghft yogfm'll ahmgn'ghft syha'h ahog l' c'!" He shouted, his voice sounded almost ecstatic, despite the harsh guttural tongue he spoke.

The crowd repeated.  
"Ahornah n'ghft yogfm'll ahmgn'ghft syha'h ahog l' c'!" A million voices cried out.

Hargreave turned his head to face Hasturn.

"For the last fifty years, ever since the original settlers stole our holy vessel from the first ones, we have served Azmorethran. When his voice was silenced at Cygnius, we wept for forty days and nights." Said Hasturn.

"But before the original, the indoctrinated, died, they received a message. One would live. One would survive. With him he carries the Yellow King. He is the Yellow king!" Shouted Hasturn, his voice growing angrier and more furious as he spoke, spitting and snarling.

The crowd screamed, in joy, in fury, Hargreave could not say.

"This man was the sole survivor of the pilgrimage the enlightened took all those years ago. For fifty years we have waited. He has waited. We scoured the galaxy, waiting for the Yellow King. He is here. Tonight. We shall rebuild. Azmorethran will become whole!" Shouted Hasturn.

Once again, the crowd screamed, and Hargreave began to weep.  
He never did get to go on that pub crawl with Shepard and Grahm.

Hargreave felt something tear into his brow. It felt like metal, and smelled like rust.

"Sing with me." Hasturn almost whispered.

The crowd seemed to speak with one voice.  
 _"They await in the shadows, and with them comes the night."  
"They are the Rebirth, the reason we live and the reason we fly"  
"Shadows lengthen, waters rise."  
"He lives as we die."  
"In Carcosa."_

 _"Songs only the understanding sing."_  
 _"We pray to the broken king."_  
 _"And await for the Galaxy's heart."_  
 _"And change us all at last."_  
 _"In Lost Carcosa."_

 _"Soon the heart beats."_  
 _"We watch for the light from dark stars."_  
 _"And as we listen for whispered thoughts."_  
 _"As they take what we dared thought was ours."_  
 _"In Dim Carcosa."_

 _"Azmorethran. Azmorethran. We wait for the touched one. The last one."_  
 _"And soon with lies."_  
 _"The heart will bring."_  
 _"Not a man... but the Yellow King."_  
 _"To Lost Carcosa."_

Even through the singing, Hargreave heard a terrible sound. The sound of a beating heart. Deep within his chest, and far without.

"Let us awaken the Yellow king."

Hargreave looked to Hasturn, and saw he was gripping something with both hands.

It was a smooth black, made of black metal. The same metal he saw on Cygnius. The same metal that had once been inside his head.  
Reaper shell.  
Hargreave struggled in his restraints. Death was nothing he feared. But the...

He began to shiver, as the blade was placed on his solar plexus, the point just touching the skin.

"Awaken." the crowds chanting.

And then, he felt it. The blade broke the skin. Where once it had felt blunt the blade was now tearing away. Not a precision cut of monomolecular blade. It felt as if it was made of thousands of claws, tearing at his flesh.

"Awaken!" The crowd chanting louder.

Hargreave watched in absolute horror as the blade dived into his chest. Blood leaked from the wound, first red, then darkening to a terrible black ichor.

"Awaken!" The crowd chanted. Louder and louder.

Hargreave began to shake. To have a seizure. He was beyond all concious control at this point, as he screamed in his restraints, lifting his chest towards the blade as it finally tore straight through him. His vision darkened. Narrowed. His mouth began to foam. He felt cold and hot at the same time. He snarled and cursed, he shivered and shuddered. He thrashed. Awaken. Awaken. Awaken the crowd chanted again and again, watching a man shake and thrash as the black blade was dragged downwards.

Hargreave began to weaken, his black blood pooling behind him. His head fell right, starring into the crowd of blue glowing eyes.

"Grahm..." He whispered, before all turned black, and the beating within silenced.

* * *

 _CODEX-COTYK:_

 _The Reapers- Circe eternally._

 _The great saviours of all things. They maintain the universe. They are the dark stars and the light. All creatures pure and artificial are bound to their whims. Only they can judge us in the end._  
 _The Yellow king is the mind of a Reaper, Azmorethran, stuck inside the body of the sole living pilgrim of the 2124 journey to Cygnius. Within him is the mind of the great one. Through him, he shall be reborn anew, and the great ascendency may begin._

 _We await the Yellow King._

* * *

 **Autism/authors note**

 _This will be one of the last hallucination heavy chapters._

 _Also note, a shit tonne of foreshadowing for some big plot points later on. Will be worth a reread when we get there._


	15. Chapter 15

_**Alcubierre: Neo-Tokyo  
Chapter Six: The-Abyss-Stares-Back**_

Pressly struggled against his chains, but he knew it was little use. Steel/Titanium alloy. They weren't going to break anytime soon.  
Still, the action of resistance gave him at least the slightest bit of hope. Something to focus his mind on.

He'd been to Carcosa once before, and it was not a pleasant visit. The far too crowded streets, the rush of water during storms against the great black walls that surrounded the city. The inhabitants, with their blue glowing eyes, watching every movement. And those damned Yellow priests, with their tattered robes, chanting in some terrible tongue.

He wished he'd knew what happened to Mr Prestoria and Mr Massani. Since he was knocked out by a tranq gun, he hadn't seen either of them.  
Perhaps the three of them could coordinate their escape. Perhaps...

Before he could finish that thought, light finally returned to his cell, and two men stepped inside. One of them pushed a button and he fell to the floor, slamming against the stone.

He groaned, but he was quickly picked up by the two men, and dragged out of the cell, his chains rattling as they moved deeper and deeper into the complex.

Eventually he found himself in a circular stone room, enormous in scale, without windows. The light source being LED's on the walls. In the centre was a hole. He could not see into it, not from the door, but he could tell. And from that hole, he heard a noise.

 _Ba-dum_

And again, a few seconds later

 _Ba-dum_

Pressly thought at that moment that it was the most terrifying thing he had ever heard. He felt the noise more than heard it. A deep pain flowing through his body. In his mind, he saw the shadows lengthen, the room fog. Every beat would clear the fog a little, but the room would grow dimmer and dimmer.

Pressly turned his head when he heard the door behind him. A man wearing tattered yellow robes, entwined with dark glass, walked into the room, holding something in his hands.

Pressly's eyes widened in terror. In his arms was Mr Prestoria. His mouth hanging wide open in a silent scream, his eyes glowing blue, far more than his natural colour. He was shirtless, though Pressly desperately wished he wasn't, because from his solar plexus to just above his groin he had been torn apart. He could hardly see his insides, beyond the dark black blood continuing to leak and drip from the wound.

The man held the body with utmost care, as if it was pure gold. He himself was covered in splats of red, crimson, and black blood. He wore a smile as manic as Pressly had ever saw, from ear to ear his mouth split his face in two.

Another man followed shortly behind him. One he recognised. Mr Whately, owner of half the businesses in Carcosa, his immaculate white suit intact, his hands and neck dotted with blue and black veins. His eyes shone that unearthly blue.

"Mr Pressly. Welcome." Said the tattered priest. Pressly didn't dare speak, too afraid to speak over that constant

 _ba-dum_

ba-dum

"I most thank you for your role in bringing Mr Hargreave to us. We never would've had the idea for this trip were it not for you." Said the priest.

Whately bit out a snort.

"But I'm afraid your time is nearing it's end. You may remember that we said that your wife tested well for genetic diversity. Well, as did you. Would you like to meet her?" Asked the priest.

Pressly began to cry, but before he could do anything he was dragged towards the hole in the centre of the room.  
The heart beats grew louder. They seemed to split the air, to tear at it. Constant, unending.

Pressly heard a click behind him, and felt his chains loosen, before his hands were dragged in front of him. The priest, almost with disappointment, placed Hargreave's corpse in front of him. Touching him. The dark blood spilling onto Pressly clothes, the taller man's head leaning on his shoulder, his silent scream still playing upon his lips.

The two of them were chained together, and Pressly began to cry.

"We will soon begin in earnest. You will be a part of something far greater than you ever were before Mr Pressly." Said the priest.

"Welcome to the true Carcosa." Said Mr Whately, before he lashed out with his foot. Unbalanced, Pressly and Hargreave's corpse fell into the dark hole, Pressly finally breaking his silence to scream.

* * *

 _Hargreave awoke.  
The cold cobblestone floor did little to alleviate his pain. An odd pain, almost as if his chest had been cracked open. But when Hargreave looked down at his naked chest he saw no such wound._

 _Still, it was the pain that caused Hargreave to stand up and take in his surroundings._

 _There were none._

 _He was standing on a small patch of cobblestones, floating in an infinite dark void._

 _Desperately, he tried to remember. Who he was, Where he was, what lead him to here?_

 _The who was simple. He was Arthur James Hargreave, as he had always been._

 _But trying to remember more caused problems. Rather than the now familiar rush of data files, videos and sense that came with his Grey-box, his mind felt almost blank. The last thing he truly remembered was being dragged to a table. A steel table._

 _Hargreave felt his face, finding a few more lines than he should have for someone who was biologically twenty three years old. He felt a scar on his right temple, another running down his right eye. Pulling a strand of hair down, Hargreave was shocked to find it steel grey in colouration, rather than his golden blonde._

 _One by one, the cobblestones began to fall away form beneath him. Hargreave stopped focusing on his different face and tried to stay on firm ground, but it would not be. A ill timed jump, and Hargreave felt himself falling. And Falling. And Falling._

 _Hargreave closed his eyes, awaiting the end of the fall, to instead find himself looking into a room. Despite the stone walls and floor, the room was littered with holograms, the inhabitants dressed in polymer armour or nanite constructed robes._

 _There were seven chairs at this table of metal and glass, and sitting at the head of it was someone, or rather something, Hargreave somehow recognised._

 _It was an alien. Three red eyes, two far apart near the sides, one dead in the middle. It had a large flat nose, and grey skin. Atop it's bald head sat a crown. Jade and Dark glass, likely obsidian. The others around the table were the same species, though vastly differently dressed._

 _Two were in high tech armour, and covered in scars and bruises, one missing his rightmost eye, leaving only a hollow socket._  
 _Another was in a sharp uniform, tight fitting reds and blacks. He had blue rings under his eyes, and looked as if he might collapse there and then. The other three were dressed in what Hargreave could only describe as Togas, though differently trimmed each. They all wore yellow as the base colour, but with different coloured sashes. One blue, one White, one Red._

 _The crowned one wore Yellow robes too, but only solid yellow. It somehow had strands of black throughout, which shined like the glass atop his crown._

 _And finally, one of them, the one in black uniform, spoke._

 _"Contact with the Citadel was lost 3 months ago. Our fleet around it has not reported in. The relays are shutting down across the galaxy. Hell, the Carcosa relay, the relay in this system, no longer can access the full seven others it once could. Now it leads only to the great red star nexus. And even there, the relays are offline." the uniformed one said._

 _"Reports our subjects are similarly bleak. Before the system went offline the Tartheen reported great black ships entering the system through the mass relay. The QEC link disconnected minutes later."_

 _"Without the colonies we cannot support the population of our homeworld. Rationing must take place immediately. The Church of the Harbinger is offering sanctuary at Arcturus but..." Said The alien wearing a red and yellow toga._

 _"The church of the Harbinger are responsible for this! Was it not them that took over the San Suyam ruins on Keldros a year ago? Just as they made some "new discovery". And now we find ourselves besieged by..." The Yellow and Blue toga wearing alien was cut off._

 _"Links between the church and the so called Reaper cults that sprung up during the Kendathi war have been proven. And their descriptions of their gods seem to match what little information we know about what happened to the Tartheen." Said the uniformed one._

 _The crowned on placed his heads in his hands, his crown slipping slightly on his head._

 _"Shugon. Tell them what you told me." The crowned one spoke simply, sighing as he did so._

 _The armoured alien missing an eye straightened in his seat before speaking._

 _"Three hours ago, the city of Leng fell under attack. Not from these strange black ships, but from the Brethren." said the Alien._

 _The room was stuck silent._

 _"The Brethren? They who the damned Kendathi fielded against our forces? Made from our forces?" Said the uniformed one. The two eyed alien nodded._

 _"The Kendathi were wiped out entirely. We spent the last decade making sure. We destroyed most of the Brethren Teeth we found. How on earth could an entire city fall to them out of the blue?" Asked Uniformed one._

 _The King slammed his fist on the table._

 _"We shall have to find out more. Send a scout ship to the nearest colony by slow boat. See if we can't get supplies from there. Demand the Church hands over their supplies for the homeworld. Try and re-establish contact with the Citadel." He said._

 _Hargreave blinked, and once more found himself falling in that void. He seemed to be barely moving, no wind was smacking against his face, but somehow he knew he was falling. Surrounded by nothing but inky darkness, he still felt he was being brought lower and lower._

 _He closed his eyes again._

 _"My People. The Reapers have arrived on Carcosa, and our ascension is almost at hand. They have told me of a great danger soon to befall our people, of a coming darkness. They have travelled the darkness between galaxies to save us. Even now, they have constructed centres for us to leave with them on this great journey."_

 _The King looked a lot different now. Three glowing blue eyes sat in his skull. Black metal sticking out of his flesh in strange places. Blue wires within._

 _"Some of our misguided brothers continue to resist our savour. They spread lies of our people being mulched and harvested by the reapers in concentration camps. This could not be further from the truth. The Reapers wish only to save our people. I am enacting a royal decree, demanding every true citizen of Carcosa and all sapients under the command of the Sarnori Kingdom of the Stars to head to your nearest reaper centre, where upon we shall be taken onboard their vessels." Said the King._

 _Hargreave watched the king shake slightly, then felt a presence behind him._

 _It was the king again. But different this time. His crown was rusted metal, his eyes a paler blue. He seemed morose, starring at the king in guilt and grief._

 _"How they tricked us." The tattered king said. He then turned to Hargreave._  
 _"Hello Hargreave." Said the king._

 _"You can see me?" Asked Hargreave._

 _"Can you see us all? All the billions harvested to create one? Or just me?" Asked the king._

 _Hargreave raised an eyebrow in confusion, as memories dripped back to him. Of a Reaper. Of a cycle._

 _"So little of our collective concious remains now. Even that had been a lie in the end. At least they believe it. That they can harvest billions yet keep the culture alive." Said the king morosely._

 _"But what remains of us? Dreams in the minds of a few. And you." Said the king._

 _Hargreave opened his eyes, moments before he slammed into a grassy plain._

 _It took him a while to get to his feet, shaking and holding his head, trying to get himself sorted. When he finally remove his hand from in front of his eyes, he saw a figure's feet in front of him. Hargreave looked up, to see a vaguely humanoid figure, entirely made of shadow._

 _" **Hargreave** " the figure said._

 _"Where am I?" Asked Hargreave. He was surprised by how calm he was._

 _" **The fields of Sendri-Nor. A holy place for the Sarnori people.** "Said the figure. Hargreave looked around, pale grass reaching his waist was all around him in every direction. A dull yellow star shining in the sky._

 _Hargreave sighed._  
 _"I suppose you are Azmorethran?" Asked Hargreave._

 _" **Azmorethran is not my designation. I am the remaining 1.56 Exabytes of the memory of the Sarnori people. All that remains of their collective concious.** " said the figure._

 _Hargreave was taken aback, even as the figure began slowly walking through the grass._

 _" **Billions of memories. Of love and loss, of pain and glory. All dust now. Glass and dust.** " said the figure. " **So little remains.** "_

 _Hargreave felt a blade of grass between his fingertips. The grass was as solid as steel, and as cold as it. The sun was cold too, the dull warmth merely coming from him himself. Hargreave saw another, less shadowed figure walking in the grass, but it soon began to turn to static, and ultimately nothing._

 _" **During the Keplerian war, Azmorethran ordered some of the humans he indoctrinated to bring a Keplerian ship here. To Carcosa.** " Said the figure._

 _Hargreave remembered, the Keplerian frigates that had disappeared years and years ago, and the implanted officers with it._

 _" **They formed the basis of the Church of the Yellow King. The last remnants of the Sarnori people.** " Said the figure._

 _" **But Azmorethran corrupted even that. They were supposed to pass on the information of us. To let future cycles learn of our mistakes and triumphs. But in it's anger and fury as it approached it's end, it stole even this chance. Corrupted the ship and it's artefacts. Left a small piece of itself there. But not it's mind.** " Said the figure._

 _The shadowed figure turned to Hargreave._

 _" **It's mind was a part of the billions and billions of slaves it had indoctrinated. All of whom died with the Reaper. All... Except for you.** "_

 _"Me?" Asked Hargreave._

 _" **In your mind the last remnant of Azmorethran gestated. Waited. Grew and grew. Waiting in the dark of your own long slumber. All the while preparing the inhabitants of Carcosa for your arrival. Speaking of a chosen one, of the glory of you. All to reform, and rebuild, and continue it's aeon long objective.** "_

 _"... What are the Reapers?" Asked Hargreave._

 _The shadowed figure looked to the sky._

 _" **They are synthetic/organic constructs of civilizations. Each a nation unto itself.** " Said the Figure. " **Every 50,000 years they come, wipe out all advanced sapient life and leave again, to allow another species, another paradigm to exist in it's place.** "_

 _"Why?" Asked Hargreave._

 _Hargreave swore he saw the figure shudder at his word._

 _" **I... Do not know. Some of my memories of my time as Azmorethran speak of synthetics. But not even it truly understood his purpose. No. Only the Shepherd knows the purpose of it's flock** " Said the figure._

 _"Where is Azmorethran?" Asked Hargreave. The figure turned to him._

 _" **You are the last true remnant of it. Oh, the people it has indoctrinated from death have some great heart, but a heart does not think. A heart does not live. It merely beats.** " Said the figure._

 _Hargreave grew cold at those words._

 _" **I'm afraid your future will not be great. But take solace in your eternity. You will survive far longer than the rest of them. At least your memories will be stored in his new form.** "_

 _Hargreave thought on his memories. What had he accomplished? His legacy was Yellowstone. It was Kepler's defeat and Asgard and Santiago and the billions dead in Sol. He had never loved. He would never pass on his memories or genes. He was a dead end._

 _" **Come Azmorethran. Embrace eternity.** " The figure said._

 _Hargreave followed the figure._  
 _He walked through the cold fake grass, under the cold fake sun._

 _He focused._

 _"Stay alive out there you hear? Hey, when you get back, we'll head to a bar on Tau. Drinks are on me." Shepard said to him._

 _Hargreave stood still. He never did get those drinks._

 _He never yet had kids. Or loved. But there was time._

 _" **Still time? For a hundred year old man with no name?** " Asked the figure, the light of the sun dimming and dimming from a cool yellow to a blood red._

 _Hargreave stood straight, taking a step back from the figure._

 _" **You're dead out there Hargreave. There is nothing beyond. Join us. Become Azmorethran. There is no choice.** " Said the figure, his voice lowering, the air shaking from the bass of its voice._

 _"There is always still time." Said Hargreave. He turned, the field of grass alight with flames as black ships landed in the distance, the smell of burning in the air, the weeping and screams of thousands of people singing to him._

 _He walked away from the figure, refusing to look back._

 _" **Time! For 100 year old soldier without a name? As Sterile as the room you were born into? If you leave you will die there out Hargreave!"  
** Hargreave looked to the sky, to the enormous cuttlefish like ship breaking atmos and landing just a short few 100m in front of him._  
 _" **You cannot do this. You are Azmorethran!** " Shouted the figure, his voice deafening, louder then the landing of enormous ships, louder than the screaming of billions upon billions._

 _But, not louder than a single sound Hargreave felt more than heard._

 _Ba-dum._  
 _It was slow. Hargreave hadn't noticed it's absence before, but realised that his heart had not been beating since he arrived in this void. But that changed._

 _Ba-dum._

 _Again, louder than the world aflame, yet Hargreave only just made out the noise of his heart beating._

 _And he knew why._

 _Hargreave reached into his trousers, and drew a knife. Grahm's knife he recognised it as, giving him a slight smile on his face._  
 _He plunged the knife into his right temple, and tried to feel for what he knew was still there. If only just._

 _He felt it, and with a flick, a small piece of black metal, covered in red blood, flew out._

 _He reached down and held it gently in his hands, as Darkness once again surrounded him._

 _When all was completely dark, when he could only see himself, Hargreave turned over the tiny piece of metal._

 _" **The harvest is coming** " said a whisper, coming from the small tiny piece of metal, that seemed to grow smaller with each passing second._

 _Hargreave smiled._

 _"And I will be waiting." He replied, letting the grain of dark sand fall between his fingers, into the endless void below._

9090909090

He awoke with a start, and almost immediately struck by how much pain he was in. He screamed as he felt as if his chest was alight. He felt bone and sinew sow itself together. Felt the rush of cold liquid moving in his chest.

He lurched backwards, bending his back and suddenly collapsing when he felt it

A single beat, deep within his chest.  
He intellectually knew he was chained to something, and that something was screaming too, but Hargreave was too involved in the fact he was being sown back together.

He felt his chest, and felt the deep scar rise further and further to the surface of his skin. He felt it again. A single beat of his heart.

"AGHHH!" Growled Hargreave.

He heard the sound of snapping metal, and rolled off the thing he was chained to, gasping for air.

"I live!" He screamed, his voice splitting the air like a bolt of lightning.

"What the hell? Prestoria!" Shouted a voice.

Hargreave rolled onto his front, his chest screaming in pain from the contact, but he pushed himself up, standing on his feet. He wobbled as he stood, but eventually stood straight in the inky blackness. He couldn't see anything in that void, but still he stood.

"You hear me Reapers! I LIVE!" Shouted Hargreave, leaning back as the last sinew sewed itself together, his chest now one. His heart beat again. And again. The pain was immense, like nothing Hargreave had ever experienced before. He felt the water on his face, dripping from above, he felt it pooling around his feet. He fell to his knees, tired and exhausted. He held his hands to the air and once more screamed to the heavens.

"I am HARGREAVE! I am ALIVE!" He shouted, and he felt it. A small trickle of blood and metal flowing from the scar on his right temple. He fell on his hands and knees, but his hands clutched around a small piece of cold metal, covered in blood.

Hargreave stood again, holding the dark cold metal in his hands, when finally the darkness was split by a light.

A pulsating light, constant, beating in the dark.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" Shouted that voice, but Hargreave ignored it, looking towards the light and the almost silent beating.

He saw a strange metal object, glowing red in the dark. It was made of dark smooth metal, but looked almost thrown together, held together by bits of bone and enamel. In it, Hargreave could make out faces. Faces stuck in moments of absolute agony, screaming silently in the dark.

Hargreave walked towards it. He could see their eyes follow him. Their organic eyes, watching him even through their silent screams.  
And the object pulsated. It beat.

"Is this all that is left of you you son of a bitch!" Shouted Hargreave as he walked towards it. He stood in front of it, watching the blood leak from the faces within the metal heart. "How pathetic. All that is left of the mighty Azmorethran? You are nothing. Less than nothing."

Hargreave held up the metal that had bled from his skull. And dropped it in the rising water, before crushing it beneath his foot.

Hargreave heard a roar, a terrible strained metallic roar behind him. He turned around, and saw a monster crawl out of the shadow.

It walked on four almost spider like legs, spindly and thin holding up an enormous metallic body of smooth grey metal. It had four eyes, glowing brighter and brighter with every moment. It opened it's mouth to roar again, and Hargreave saw what must have been thirty metal skulls inside it's maw, alive with light, screaming as the monster they were fused with roared.

Hargreave stepped back, as he heard the voice in the darkness rant.

"Shoggoth. Shoggoth. Waiting in the dark."

Hargreave narrowly dodged the grasping thing arms of the bodies within the beating heart, instead focusing on getting away from this... Shoggoth.

He was defenceless. No guns, no knife, nothing.

So he did the only thing he could, he ran. He ran first towards the ranting voice, and the person it belong too, throwing him over his shoulder. The Shoggoth leapt into the air, slamming into the ground and stumbling Hargreave as it did so. But Hargreave ignored it, and ran. He had no idea where he was, how large this dark room was or anything. As he ran, he saw more and more blue lights around him. Two next to each. Thrall eyes he realised.

He kept running, his broken chains clinking as he did so. He dared not look back at the horde chasing him, and the monsters of man and machine getting closer and closer and closer to him.

He felt the dripping water splash against his face, heard the rants of "Shoggoth. Shoggoth. Waiting in the dark" from the man he was carrying. But he saw no light, nothing.

But below everything, he did hear a sound. A storm. The low crack of thunder and the roar of rain. It sounded torrential.

Finally, he saw it. A dim grey light, at the end of a tunnel that seemed to stretch for almost a mile, slopping upwards.

But Hargreave was exhausted. He panted and wheezed, the pain of his chest being put back together, of breathing again, pained him. He couldn't make it.

He felt the Thralls arms around him. First one, than four, than twelve. They tried to drag him into the dark mass of their horde, tearing at his chest and arms as they did so.

But he took a breath, let a roar, and put one foot in front of the other.

He thought of Grahm, that man that he would've died for. He thought of Shepard, the woman he could've loved. He thought of his brother, and his father. He thought of granddad, and his tales of space. He thought of his mother, waiting for him to come home. He thought of home, of Freedom's Reach.

He thought of the name on the ship. He thought of the billions of names scratched into that melted hull. He saw Earth, and Epsilon Eridani. He thought of Tau and Procyon, of Byzantine and Kepler's defeat. Of the strange aliens and people he had yet to meet.

If he fell here, he knew they would all die. Nothing would stop the harvest, they would all sing the Reapers foul notes. He took another step.

 _He saw a face. A bald woman, crying with fury. He saw a mask, hiding hope. He saw a turian, half his face alight with fire. He saw a man with black and grey hair, crying in his seat watching the world. He saw half a hundred faces looking at him. To him._

He could die in this dark. Let go. He felt his heart beating faster and faster, ready to give out. He felt the fifty years he lost asleep because of man's mistake. He felt the arm he lost. The time he lost. The body he lost.

He looked behind him, at the snarling horde, and the dark abyss behind them. He saw nothing but black. And he turned around, and saw, miles ahead, a dim grey light, being smothered by the arms around his head.

He didn't owe the world anything.

But he roared, throwing back his arms. He surged forward with his last ounce of strength, his cerulean eyes alive with light. Not the artificial glow of the horde behind him. But of fury.

He marched forward, a hundred Thralls unable to restrain him. He heard Pressly cry, he heard his muscles tear and his feet scream.

But he stepped forward. Again. And again. With a deafening roar and a surge of strength, he threw off the Thrall's grip. Crushed by the sheer mass of the horde behind them, they could not reach him as he put one foot in front of the other, slowly limping towards that grey dim light.

He opened the storm grate and closed it behind him. They were in a small cave. He locked the grate behind him, the horde unable to breach it. Placing Pressly down on the floor Hargreave limped to the caves mouth.

Above him, the greatest storm he had ever seen roared, the rain feeling like knives on his bare chest. The sound filled the air, the smell of static and rain and fear. He fell to his knees, saw the great black walls of the city of Carcosa bulge and struggle against the rising storm. And Hargreave looked up. There, hidden far behind the hurricane, beyond almost even his sight, was the sun. He could not see it, but he knew it was there. He stayed there, letting the rain slam against him, and let out one final roar of triumph.


	16. Chapter 16

**_Alcubierre: NEO-TOKYO_**  
 ** _Chapter 7: The Mending Wall_**

When he was young, Hargreave had dreamed of being an explorer. Of following in the footsteps of his grandfather and discovering new colonies, new life. He dreamed of meeting intelligent alien life and travelling the stars. Free of the ties of home, of family. Of greed and corruption. He dreamed of black holes and binary stars, he dreamed of Supernovas and Nebulas, criss-crossing the night's sky for millennia, for never staying in one place for more than a day. For freedom.

When he joined the military, he thought he was close to that dream. Free from the company his father had wanted him to run one day. Soon to be free of Epsilon Eridani itself. A marine aboard a great starship, travelling from world to world in service of keeping the peace and saving lives.

When he was selected for the SOIG, he thought himself closer to the freedom he sought. But time and time again, he was ordered. Kill this man. Buy this bioweapon. Burn this planet. Kill this man. Kill and kill and serve. Oh, soldiers dreamed of the "freedom" of an SOIG agent. Of moving from safe house to safe house, of owning their own starship. But the freedom was an illusion. The dream was false.

When he stepped down and joined Trailblazer, he though he had accomplished the dream. Only for the truth to set in. Destroying the ecosystems of worlds so that man might starve off extinction and overcrowding for a moment. Of quotas, of evicting the local settlers who got there first, people he once wished to be, so that his company might earn a commission. He was still bound then, bound by contract, by needs.

When he met Alien life, it had tried to kill him. It had corrupted his mind. When once he saw the glory of the universe, he saw instead only dark stars.

But now, as he stood in the rain, letting the water wash over him, cleansing the blood and grime off his hands, off his skin and heart, he saw the dream anew. Covered by storm-clouds, split by thunder, he saw all that he had saw all those years ago, even if it was hidden.

When he looked up, he saw stars. Stars made of light. Though they were few against the oppressive dark of the universe, he knew it was different. When once all had been darkness, and soon all would return to darkness, as worlds died, as stars died and even their corpses fell into nothing, for now... Now the stars above shone brighter than they ever had. He closed his eyes, and for the first time in years, he didn't dream of Carcosa. He didn't dream of the metal table he lost himself upon, or the ash cloud he created. He didn't dream of the Thralls, or Shoggoths or Reapers. Of regrets and missed moments, never to be seen or experienced again.

He saw nothing. Not light or dark, not fear and regret. He saw his future. And that it was unwritten, unbound. He did not know what he might do if he left this place. He did not know how he might save the stars, from those that sought to block them from view. From the Reapers. From man or alien or whatever. He did not see the plan, he did not see the summons. He did not dream of Carcosa.

His future... Was his. For the first time in his life, he was free. Even contained on this planet, as a storm roared above, even as he feared he might never leave the city of Carcosa... He knew he had finally left the Carcosa within his mind.

Walking inside the cave, he looked down on his bare chest, the scar running down angrily across it, from Solar Plexus to near the groin.

It was a near straight line, though the surroundings were torn and jagged by that damned knife.  
As he ran his hand down it, surprised by the lack of pain it brought to him, he pondered upon it.

There was little denying it. Now he was awake, out of a dark pit and away from cyborg zombies and stranger things, he couldn't think of anything else.

He had died. His heart had stopped beating, the air left his body, his brain shut down. According to his Grey-Box and his implants, he had been dead for roughly twenty four hours. No one, no matter how much money you threw at the best doctors in the galaxy, came back from being dead for that long. Not without some very fast cryogenics.

There were other things to consider. Just because he may or may not have removed whatever was inside of him that was Azmorethran didn't mean there wasn't enough damage done to him. His right temple was still bleeding, which is why he had a bandage wrapped around his forehead. Strange that that wound continued to bleed yet the disembowelling and bisection he got didn't.

And the scientific questions. Sure, he could argue that he was simple the grey-box rebooted version of Hargreave, and the actual biological memories of Hargreave suffered brain-death. Sure, okay. He had dealt with such moral quandaries before when he got the implants.  
And okay, maybe the dream he had was actually the interplay of the Grey-Box version of him and the equally synthetic data of the implant in his head. Fine, still scientific, if dubious.

But his wound healing? And getting mass from nowhere to seal the wound? The fact he was alive whilst the wound had healed... That was less scientific. Even if his Grey-Box rebooted his mind, his body would be dead. There weren't enough medical nanites in the galaxy to bring someone back from the dead. And his Grey-Box had no recollection of events pre 2124, when the scientists working on his comatose body had synced the short term memories with the Grey-Box. He still remembered his childhood, his past.

"How am I alive." Asked Hargreave quietly to himself.

"Ughhh." Said a voice. Hargreave turned to look at Pressly, lying down in the dirt of the cave, at least a lot more dry than Hargreave. His eyes opened, and he turned to Hargreave, before shaking awake, pointing at Hargreave, a terrified expression on his face.

"You died!" He shouted.

How could he respond to that. He had died.

"How are you still breathing. How are you here! Who... what are you?" asked Pressly, his voice growing more and more desperate and terrified.

Hargreave looked at his hands briefly, before starring into Pressly's eyes and answering.

"My name is Arthur James Hargreave. That is all." Said Hargreave. And for the first time since "The Midnight City". Or even since that damned Keplerian ship. There were no dreams of a Yellow King, of a city in ruins or dark stars. Only him.

"No... No. No one comes back to life screaming. You must be..." Said Pressly, his voice turning from fear to awe in a few words.

"No. I am not anything but Hargreave." Said Arthur.

Pressly stared at Hargreave.

"Hargreave... I thought your name was Prestoria." Said Pressly, slowly calming down.

Hargreave sighed.

"Yeah... Well. I'm Arthur Hargreave." Hargreave explained, as if Pressly might know the name.

"Never heard of you." Said Pressly.

Hargreave laughed.  
"Fair enough." Hargreave said with a smile. He looked out of the cave, into the torrential rain.

"How are we going to get out of Carcosa." Asked Pressly, turning to Hargreave for some kind of plan. For some kind of guidance.

Hargreave looked into the rain, into the storm and the bulging black walls of Carcosa.  
"By destroying it." Said Hargreave. "I will not allow this city, that heart, those things, to continue to exist."

"What!" Shouted Pressly, slowly standing up. "We need to get out of here. Run, get off world and..."

"No. I've been hiding for long enough. I've seen the light." Said Hargreave, starring into the dark grey sky, holding his hand out of the mouth of the cave and letting the torrential rain fall through his fingers.

"What?" Asked Pressly, fear in his voice.

"This place is cursed. This city is corrupted. Indoctrinated. I owe it to... I need to destroy this place." Said Hargreave, steeling himself, running his wet hand through his long hair.

"How on Earth are you going to destroy an entire city?" Asked Pressly.

Hargreave grimaced, thinking back to an ash cloud, and why he was sterile.  
On Cittagaze, he used the natural resources he had available to him. Back then, he destroyed an entire planet's ecosystem because he government told him to.

This time, it would be one step in saving the galaxy.

Hargreave grinned as he a dim light rise above the oppressive black walls that surrounded the city of Carcosa.

* * *

Acolyte Thurston stood in his guard outpost. His leaders could order him all he liked, there was no way he was going out in a hurricane.  
Why the storm had descended upon the city he had no idea. They had made the most important sacrifice in the history of the church. It was rare for such things to be so public. Usually the upper echelons of the church were the only ones that witnessed sacrifices to the heart of Azmorethran, but the Yellow King himself needed an audience. When he had been a part of that chanting, when he saw that mortal vessel shake and seize from the glorious spirit leaving it's body Thurston had cried genuine tears of joy.

Yet here was this storm, one of the worst since Carcosa had been settled. The meteorologists had predicted this hurricane weeks ago, but it's path had seemingly diverted from it's course to head directly over Carcosa, where it was now starring. The city was built for it. The entire circular city slopped downwards towards the great pit where Titanium was once mined. The three mile pit served as an enormous storm drain. The enormous black city walls kept at bay the great waves of the lake Crykranosh.

His fellow Acolyte Gwynedd shivered. Even with the cold of the guard outpost, it wasn't that that had caused the two of them to shiver. Usually, he would turn to the voice of Azmorethran within his head, but the voice had been silent for a few hours now. Not the usual silence either. It was the silence of death.

He had discussed the issue with anyone else. To suggest their god was dead would be heresy in the extreme. But the fact he was able to discuss the fact that Azmorethran might be dead was terrifying.

 _Do. Not. Think._

He heard the words. Whilst the bass of Azmorethran was comforting, it was... Strained. Almost artificial. Usually Azmorethran spoke with almost poetically. This was... Brain-dead. Absent.

Thurston gripped his head in his hands. What had changed. They made him whole. They gave him the Yellow King. How could he be so... Gone.

As he let go of his head, he looked out of the window of his outpost. And saw a figure, standing in the rain. He squinted, trying to see through the fogged window. As he wiped the window, he saw the figure more clearly, as he walked towards the window.

His eyes widened. He knew the figure. Bare Chested, his hair all over his body wet from the rain, a great scar running down his chest. His Cerulean eyes seemed to glow in the dark rain, though not like his and the rest of the acolytes given eyes.

He had seen this man before. Dying upon a table of volcanic glass and steel. His chest torn in half by the fleshen knife of Azmorethran.

"No..." Said Gywnedd, clutching her rifle in fear, her hands shaking.

A bolt of lightning split the air, and Thurston was forced to look away from the figure in the rain.

When he looked again, the man was gone.

"Oh Azmore..." Said Thurston.

The door beside him exploded open, and a bare chested man burst through into the room. Thurston swivelled round, attempting to aim his rifle at the lunging man. But the Yellow King slammed into him, tackling him to the floor. Gywnedd was about to unload her rifle into the Yellow King, but the Yellow King grabbed Thurston's own rifle and ripped it from his hands, ducking under her fire and unloading the rifle until it overheated into Gywnedd, tearing her apart. As her mangled corpse fell back the Yellow King pointed the still hot barrel of the rifle against Thurston's skull.

"How... How are you alive Yellow King?" Asked Thurston.

"I. Am. Hargreave!" Growled the Yellow King.

As Thurston's cheek began to singe and melt under the heat of the barrel, another person entered the room, also soaked to the bone.

"Code for the storage locker." Growled the Yellow King.

"I..." Said Thurston, the pain of his burning cheek nothing compared to the fear of the figure on top of him. Of a dead man pointing a gun at him.

"Code!" Shouted the Yellow King.

"0451!" Thurston cried out.

There were no further words as the Yellow King opened fire.

 _They... they promised I'd meet Azmorethran.  
_ But only darkness awaited him, as he closed his eyes one last time.

* * *

Hargreave stretched after he finished putting on the non-Newtonian armour. Whilst Pressly had put on the ceramic plates over the top, Hargreave preferred to go with just the under-suit and a shield generator.

He grabbed a pistol. Sure, it was a simple Predator pistol, but it was all he needed. His aim wasn't to personally kill every single Carcosan. Not by his own hand at least. His aim was to get towards the city hall. The tower held aloft above the sink-hole in the centre of the city. There, he would destroy this entire city.

"You ever fired a gun before?" Hargreave asked of Pressly.

Pressly nodded. Hargreave threw him an assault rifle.

"Stay back and cover me. Don't get too close." Said Hargreave. Pressly nodded weakly.

Hargreave grabbed what he recognised as a Mattock Semi-auto Assault rifle.  
 _Still around after seventy years? God-damn, up there with the AK and M4 at this point. Well, I'm sure there is a M4 eezo rifle somewhere out there in the galaxy.  
Last time I saw one of these bad boys was Kepler 138b._

He thought back to..  
He shook his head. No more.

He placed the rifle on the magnetic stripes on his back, clipping the rifle on. The gun had collapsed automatically into a smaller box like shape, which whilst very convenient Hargreave debated on the point of it, since it was more moving parts in a gun that was supposed to be as rugged as possible. The original was never designed for collapsing. How times had changed.

Hargreave looked out of the window, the rain falling harder and harder. Realising this, Hargreave cut off a bit of cloth from the black curtains of the window with a knife, before tying a bandanna round his forehead to keep his hair out of his eyes.

"Ready?" Asked Hargreave. Likely soldiers were already on their way to this position, but the storm might be delaying them.

Pressly looked at the gun in his hands, terrified at the thought of killing a man. Of dying. He turned to Hargreave.  
Hargreave watched the interplay of emotions form on his face. Fear. Awe. Resolution. He put on a helmet as Hargreave drew his pistol.

"Ready." Said Pressly. Hargreave added him to his IFF via his Omni-tool, then stepped once more out into the storm.

9090909

The streets of the City of Carcosa were thin. Far too narrow for a shuttle or car to drive down. Sloping ever downwards towards the pit at the heart of Carcosa, to the spire held above. They at least kept some of the rain out of Hargreave's face, even as the wind whipped through his hair. He was crouching, keeping low, moving from doorway to doorway, keeping in cover as he scanned ahead. It seemed that everyone was bunkered down to ride out the storm. Even as he thought this a bolt of lightning flashed above, hitting the spire at the heart of Carcosa, before the light dimmed once again.

Pressly behind him moved carefully, his head darting from roof top to roof top. Nothing. Not a soul.

They continued their slow path towards the spire, the hurricane above slowing their already crippled pace, the rain water almost a foot deep rushing past the knees down the street, in the same direction as them. Hargreave almost felt himself being washed away with it, even watching Pressly essentially walking backwards in order to stay upright. But still they stood.

The street lights flickered, then cut out entirely, leaving them in near darkness. His Omni-tool suggested it was about 13:00, but the dark suggested it was closer to a grey wintry sunset. His bodysuit did a good job of keeping the cold and dark out, but seeing as he had spent two hours in the rain earlier, it was probably too little too late.

"I don't want to die from hypothermia or pneumonia." He heard Pressly over his radio.

"We won't die here." Said Hargreave resolutely.  
He barely heard Pressly's reply of "I believe you", but it shook him all the same. He ignored it for now. Focusing on the mission.

Hargreave looked around. Stone buildings surrounded by more stone buildings. All identical, all dark and cold.

The spire loomed closer and closer, and Hargreave could see it more clearly now. It looked like an imitation of a Reaper. Black smooth metal, blue windows hidden somewhat behind the outer shell. It seemed to stretch no more than a few hundred metres above the pit, barely level with the black walls that surrounded the city. Looking slightly down, Hargreave could see the sink-hole at the heart of Carcosa itself, and the water rushing in. It was flowing faster and faster around his knees, Pressly desperately trying to stand straight.

Finally, Hargreave saw life. Two guards standing in front of the entrance to one of the legs that kept the spire above the sink-hole, no further than 100 metres in front of him.

"Pressly." Hargreave said into his ear piece, the sound of the rain and the storm drowning out anything he might have said normally. "Aim for the one on the left, I've got the one on the right."

"Got it." Said Pressly, as he leaned behind one of the street lights and took aim. Hargreave holstered his pistol and drew his rifle, aiming down the scope at the man on the right. Even through the dark and the storm, Hargreave saw his creepy blue glowing eyes. He saw his expression through his clear mask. Fearful, starring straight ahead, scratching at his arms, but occasionally looking behind him to try and find something that was not there. Indoctrinated through and through if Hargreave had to guess.

He took aim, squarely between the man's glowing eyes, and began to count down.

"On three." He said into his radio. "One. Two..."

He readied his shoulder for the recoil. "Three."

Two bullets saw through the air, faster than Hargreave could see, though in a moment he saw the droplets pushed aside by the small shock-wave that followed it's trail. Another two and then another two followed behind impossibly quickly. The two guards crumpled to the floor, their heads torn apart by the force of the bullets. Hargreave spoke into his radio.

"All right, Let's grab a key from them and get inside."

The two of them inched forward through the rushing water, before finally climbing the short steps to the two bodies. They searched through their uniforms, Hargreave's hand finally falling on his key-card. With Pressly aiming his rifle ready at the door to the "Leg" of the spire, Hargreave swiped the card.

The door opened, and after seeing if the coast was clear, the two of them stepped inside, their guns at the ready.

Hargreave ran a hand through his hair, water dripping on the dark grey metal floor below, pooling around the two men. The warmth of the corridor surprised them momentarily, before they steeled themselves. Sharing a look, the two of them began to climb the stairs leading towards the spire itself, and the heart of Carcosa within.

The squelch of their feet beneath them was far louder than the heavily muffled storm raging outside, so Hargreave and Pressly kept their guns aimed firmly at the top of the enormous flight of steps.

Hargreave spared a glance to the round glass balls that dotted the stairway, and watched the cameras within rotate and track them, and shot each and every camera the same expression that had been upon his face since he started marching towards the spire. Fury. A promise of the violence to come.

"Get ready." He said quietly to Pressly. Hargreave quickened his pace, almost running up the stairs to get to the spire faster. The two of them had made it just over halfway up the enormous set of stairs before the first person entered the stairway. Dressed in black and yellow armour, identical to Pressly, he began to jog down the stairs towards them, his gun raised. Hargreave opened fire, three bullets tearing through the man's stomach. He crumpled and began to fall forward, rolling down the stairs, his blood splashing against each and every step he fell upon until he finally stayed against the wall of the stairway a few dozen metres ahead, his neck clearly broken. But Hargreave couldn't focus on this for too long, as four more people entered the stairway.

One of them lobbed a grenade as hard as they could, the grenade falling quickly through the air. Hargreave and Pressly moved aside as the grenade continued to fall downwards. Hargreave and Pressly fell to the floor as the grenade exploded about ten metres behind them. The bullets begin to ring through the air, slamming and ricocheting off the metal around them. Off the hand rails and steps, occasionally slamming into their shields, but never enough to break them.

Hargreave aimed his rifle upwards, the rifle lying on top of the stairs. He pulled the trigger again and again, only vaguely aiming at them, forcing them to attempt to find cover in the cramped stairway.

Pressly took the chance in the lull in gunfire heading towards them to move ahead.

"I'll suppress, you hit them!" Shouted Pressly.

Hargreave got up and crouched across two steps, aiming carefully as Pressly kept firing and firing. Hargreave looked through the scope and aimed at one of their shoulders. He sucked in a breath and fired, and again, and again, the third bullet finally tearing through his head, lifted up by the recoil of the rifle.

Hargreave began to run forward up the steps, spamming the trigger on his rifle to keep the soldiers in whatever limited cover they had, mostly just crouching or lying down. When the gun overheated, Hargreave simply dropped in and in a moment drew his pistol. He heard the clink clink of the rifle falling down the stairs and the noise of Pressly firing behind him, again and again. The men finally risked standing up, one of them getting four shots into his torso from Pressly for his trouble. The other two sprayed with their avenger assault rifles, aiming at Hargreave. He felt saw the blue blur of his shields taking the shots, and knew it would break soon.

He got within a few dozen steps of them. He ran whilst he unloaded the pistol into one of them. He saw his shield break and felt a few rounds slam against his armoured under-suit. He saw one of the soldier, the one of his right, as his head exploded into gore. Hargreave kept running, ignoring the bullets tearing through his chest. Hargreave's pistol rounds finally broke through the man's shields, and three bullets slammed into the soldier's helmet, finally putting him down for good.

With the four men dead, Hargreave fell to his knees, his hand clutched around his chest, as a wound opened up. He searched the man's armour as he heard footsteps behind him, and his hand fell upon what he was looking for. Gritting his teeth, Hargreave sprayed a cool liquid into the wound and growled as the medi-gel got to work, sealing the wound. Hargreave felt the void of flesh running through his body, and the strange cool liquid rapidly hardening to replace the missing flesh.

"You dropped this." said Pressly, smiling behind the helmet as he held a mattock rifle out for Hargreave. He gritted his teeth, then stood up, taking the rifle from Pressly's hands.

"Thanks. Good work. Just a few hundred more to go." Said Hargreave. They were near the top of the stairway now, ready to enter the spire itself. They opened the door and walked through, guns raised, scanning each side. They were in a circular corridor that stretched round beyond their sight.  
Through the glass they say the rain slam against the windows, and the city beyond. They were roughly level with some of the taller towers at the bottom of the city.

"We need to find an elevator." Said Hargreave. He pointed to his right and the two of them stepped off in that direction, Hargreave looking ahead, Pressly covering behind.

"How are you alive?!" Said a familiar voice from the walls. Hargreave recognised it as the voice of Hasturn Chambers.

"Your god is dead. I killed him." Hargreave said simply in response, not looking away from in front of him, scanning doors that lead to rooms deeper within the spire, looking for a way up.

"You... I killed you. I gave the Yellow King back to Amorethran. I awoke..." Said Hasturn, his voice cracking.

"You only awoke me. Only me. And I'm coming for you Hasturn." Said Hargreave. "I cannot be caged. Pray to whatever god you think might be listening, nothing can save you from me."

"You are just two men..." Said Hasturn.

"With two men I started a war. With two men I captured a ship. With one man I came back from the dead. With two men I'll kill you and every single member of your damned cult." Said Hargreave. "I will drown that heart in that pit and every monstrosity you have ever created."

Pressly tapped his shoulder and pointed towards a door Hargreave had missed in his ranting, looking in through the glass, Hargreave saw a long corridor heading towards the centre of the spire, and a elevator within.

"... No. We can sacrifice you again. That will wake Azmorethran up. That will bring back the voice and visions." Said Hasturn, sounding desperate.

Hargreave and Pressly entered the corridor. Hargreave felt the sensation of static electricity in his hair and beard.

"Your in a EM field tunnel. No advanced electronic technology within." Said Hasturn from a speaker in the hall behind them. The elevator doors in front of them opened. And out stepped twenty or so men, all armed with heavy batons. "Come quietly, and we may spare your lives."

There was little hope of that. He attempted to pull the trigger on his rifle, and found it refused to fire. Hargreave smiled.

"Stay back Pressly." Hargreave said, holstering his rifle, rolling his neck and clicking his fingers, before he held out both of his fists. "It's time for a little stress relief."

The soldiers continued to move slowly towards Hargreave, two by two, about two metres apart from each pair. They moved with their batons raised.

Hargreave didn't wait for them to reach him. Instead he rushed forward growling as he broke out into a sprint. He reached the first pair, both going for heavy swings towards his head. Hargreave skidded, his light non-Newtonian armour sending him skidding past the swings, he jumped up, kicking one of the soldiers behind them and grabbing the soldier's behind him neck. The two of them fell to the floor, and Hargreave quickly grabbed his baton, dodging three swings from the soldiers now crowding around him. He slammed the butt of the baton into the groin of one of the soldiers behind him, before standing up and smacking the other two in the head, taking the chance in the momentary break to fall back slightly.

The soldier on the ground crawled away as the three of them got their bearings, their mates waiting behind them because of the cramp corridor.

Hargeave smiled as the three of them rushed towards him. He rolled and dodged the first swing towards him, smacking the baton into the back of the soldier on his right knee, sending him onto the floor, crouching on his none broken leg. He stood up and kicked the soldier in front of him square in the chest before he could lunge at him. As he was mid jump, the sudden force sent him to the floor. The last soldier smacked him in the small of the back. Hargreave stumbled, but still he stood.

The soldier aimed a smack at his head, which Hargreave leant back and dodged before slamming the butt of his baton into the man's skull.

The soldier collapsed into a pile.

"Should've worn a helmet." Hargreave said, picking up another discarded baton from one of the injured soldiers. He turned around, two batons in hand, to the sixteen soldiers in front of him, their batons raised in a blocking position, slowly inching their way towards him.

Hargreave grinned. _Oh what a lovely day._

He charged forward.

* * *

Hargreave wiped his mouth of blood, and spat out a tooth as he calmly stepped into the elevator, a sheepish Pressly following behind.  
He turned his gaze to the camera in the elevator, but realised that because of the EM field the camera was offline.

Hargreave smiled, and selected the top floor.

"So... You special ops or something." Asked Pressly as if he was discussing the weather.  
"Something like that." Said Hargreave.

It took a few moments, but the elevator finally finished it's journey. Hargreave and Pressly readied their rifles as the doors opened, and rushed.

They were in a great room, with rows upon rows of computer terminals and men at them. At end was a great window, with a view looking over the city, and across the Crykranosh lake. Their were a great many seats to take cover behind. Running in the same direction, Hargreave and Preslsy took cover on the left of the room just as a hail of gunfire greeted their entrance.

The gunfire continued to rain upon their position, the terminal they were taking cover behind exploding into sparks and fire. But eventually the gunfire stopped, and a familiar, terrified voice broke the silence.

"How are you alive!" Shouted Hasturn Chambers. He did not look good. He was sweating profusely from his forehead, his cheeks were puffy and red. His hair seemed to be falling out and even his terrible blue glowing eyes seemed to be flickering.

Hargreave poked his head out of cover. The fucking idiot had sent soldier to catch him.

"Shutdown the elevator." Hargreave ordered Pressly. He nodded, Hargreave stepped out of cover with his pistol ready, a few rounds slamming into his now recharged shields. Hargreave simply shot Chambers in the gut.

The man crumpled like a pack of cards, and slowly Hargreave began to walk towards him. Towards the window, as the men and women at the other terminals crouched and looked at him with fear in their eyes.

"No words about how Azmorethran will strike me down?" Asked Hargreave as he walked towards the dying form of chambers, as he desperately tried to crawl away.

"Awaken awaken?" Asked Hargreave.

He finally reached Chambers, who was on his front and trying to crawl under the great terminal before the window. Hargreave stepped on the small of his back and applied force, making the man scream.

"You awoke something that's for sure. Now watch." Said Hargreave. He turned slightly at shot at the back of Chambers knees, blowing them out. Chambers began to scream louder.

"Your god is dead. I killed him. And I will kill you all." Said Hargreave. "I will free those you indoctrinated, and drown that heart. Silence the last beats of a dead thing."

Hargreave looked at the terminal, the holographic keypad lighting up as he did so. He began to type, searching for progam.

 _Flood wall controls.  
_  
He smiled.

"Dim Carcosa. Lost Carcosa." Said Hargreave, as he override the current commands. He watched at the edge of the city as the walls began to rise. Before they could get even a few feet off the ground the water rushed in. A great tidal wave of water rushed in as the city was overcome by water. Thousands and thousands and thousands of the gallons of the stuff washed in. The stone houses seemed to be made of little more than paper as the entire lake began to descend upon them. They were swept aside, slamming into other buildings and dragging them ever closer to the pit at the heart of Carcosa.

"Should have looked into foundation repair." Said Hargreave with a grimace. He felt and heard the legs of the spire groan as buildings slammed into it. Houses fell into the pit below them, and he saw the eyes of the men and women around him flicker and dim even further.

He crouched down, grabbed Hasturn by the collar and held him aloft, to see his city washed aside by the storm.

"Watch." Said Hargreave.

And with that, he walked towards the elevator.

"One of the options is for a shuttle-pad above." Said Pressly, his voice a little nervous.

"Restart the elevator. Let's get out of this place." Said Hargreave.

Pressly nodded and type a few things on his omni tool. The elevator doors opened and the two men stepped inside. Tentatively, the men and women within the room began to inch towards them, hoping to enter the elevator, but Hargreave smiled and shook his head, the doors closing in front of him.

The Elevator speed upwards, and Hargreave ran a hand down his face, the exhaustion beginning to kick in.

"Let's hope theirs a shuttle there." Said Pressly.

"Yeah." Hargreave replied dumbly.

He leaned against the elevator walls, breathing deeply. He closed his eyes, imaging the thousands he had condemned to death. Then he remembered their glowing eyes, their smiles as he was butchered. He remembered the dark pit and the silent beating heart within, and for once in his life, felt completely justified in what he did. He felt an arm around his shoulder.

"Come on buddy." Said Pressly as the elevator door opened. Their were in a hanger, with an opening to the rain outside. Hargreave stopped Pressly, asking him to lock the elevator to not leave this floor. He nodded, and brought out his Omni-tool, the doors of the elevator now refusing to close. Slowly, the two of them limped towards a shuttle and climbed inside. As Pressly got behind the controls, Hargreave slumped in his seat, starring out of the window.

The shuttle roared into life, and quickly left he hanger.

"Circle around the city." Asked Hargreave weakly. Pressly nodded, and the two of them circled around the city, watched as the water rushed to remove any trace of the city, as the sinkhole plugged up with buildings and sewage and bodies. As the Spire let out a bellowing roar, as one of it's legs crumbled and it fell, slamming into the down and forcing the blocked hole to collapse. In a plume of dust and a rush of waves all trace that a city once stood here was gone.

Hargreave closed his eyes.

 _He saw a heart of twisted metal beat quicker and quicker as the water raised around it. He saw thralls struggling to stay alive as the cavern filled with water. The light of the heart grew dimmer and dimmer as the water rose. When the heart was completely submerged, he saw it beat slowly and slower, the light grow dimmer and dimmer until, finally, all was black._

* * *

His shoulders were being shaken. Hargreave awoke slowly, bleary.

"We've got a fucking cruiser hailing us." Said Pressly worriedly. Tiredly Hargreave rose an eyebrow. There was nothing to suggest that Carcosa had an actual navy.

"What's it ID?" Asked Hargreave, his eyes rapidly blinking to clear them of dust.

"Blocked." Said Pressly simply.

Hargreave sighed.

"Better respond then." Said Hargreave, before he pressed a button on the screen in the middle of the dashboard.

"This is Arthur James Hargreave and... What's your name?" Asked Hargreave with a wry grin.

"Charles." Said Pressly with an equally tired yet smug smile.

"Charles Pressly."

"Good." Said a vaguely familiar voice. Hargreave starred at the screen to see a face. One of the first faces he saw when he awoke.  
Jack Harper.  
"You are commanded to dock with our ship. I'm sending in auto pilot commands now. You will be shot if you do anything over than input these commands."

Hargreave sighed.

* * *

His cell was relatively nice. A warm bed, a separate bathroom, even some Wifi to connect to the holonet. Receiving only sadly, but still, appreciated He had just started watching "Borderless sluts of Orion." when Jack Harper walked into his cell, flanked by two well armed guards. Hargreave raised an eyebrow, glanced towards the porn being projected in front of him by his Omni tool and muted it, leaving the hologram playing in front of him.

"Interesting that we have to meet again Mr Hargreave. You've made quite a nuisance of yourself." Said Harper.

Hargreave shrugged.  
"Destroying an entire city, destroying a Reaper cult." Said Harper. "You were supposed to stay quiet and live out your days on Epsilon Eridani."

"I got bored." Said Hargreave as he leaned forward, glancing at the porn playing in front of him before turning his gaze to Harper.

"Took a while to find you. Had an agent track your route to Kepler's defeat and intercept you there." Said Harper.

"Zaeed?" Asked Hargreave. Harper nodded.

"I'm sorry. Genuinely, he was a good guy. But he was killed." Said Hargreave. Harper sighed and nodded.

"I know." Harper replied.

Hargreave felt the ship shake slightly.

"You may be happy to know that was us firing upon what remains of the city of Carcosa. Can't be too sure." Said Harper.

"Good." Said Hargreave.

"You know.. .You've proven to still be an... Able asset. If you..." Harper began to say.

"No. I won't work for the EEIS again." Said Hargreave resolutely.

Harper seemed to smile at that.

"Not quite what I was offering, though given that expression I doubt the answer would change anyway. Fair enough." Said Harper.  
He started up his omni tool, and Hargreave's own blinked.

"That is all the paper work you will need to start a new life. Prestoria is dead to the galaxy, weak as that was. We'll let you build your own past this time. I'm afraid that means no more money from us." Said Harper.

"Good." Said Hargreave.

"You'll need a job." Said Harper, speaking as if Hargreave hadn't already realised that.

Hargreave smiled to himself. He decided what he was going to do.

"We can drop you and your friend off at any planet of your choosing." Said Harper.

"Earth." Said Hargreave, carefully watching Harper's expression. He didn't even seem to flinch.

"And your name?" Asked Harper.

Hargreave thought for a moment. On his past. On those he had killed and saved. His name could only be one thing.

"Call me Joshua Grahm."

* * *

 _ **Authors note:  
**_ For now, the first of three arcs of Neo-Tokyo is over. We've got his time in the city itself, and what he discovers and does there, before we start time jumping towards the events that will be covered in the next story, which will not be a rewrite of Mass Effect one. I'm doing something with the trilogy's story that many people think should have been done. Mass Effect 2 is a great game, but story wise it's almost completely superfluous to the trilogy, and my intention is to somewhat attempt to rectify that. But before we get there, we've got to finish Alcubierre proper and Shepard's story.


	17. Chapter 17

**_Alcubierre-Neo Tokyo_**  
 ** _Chapter 8: Zero_**

 ** _February 13th 2177_**

Three years after Carcosa, despite falling back to the bottle, Hargreave could honestly say he was in a better place mentally then he was back in those dark days. Even his drinking was only a single swig before work and a few after. And everyone drank in Tokyo.

It had been an interesting three years. Hargreave, or 'Joshua Grahm' as he was now called, had been given a few false memories of his time as Detective Arthur Daryne, a homicide detective in Tokyo who had died in 2164. Because of these false memories, Hargreave had the knowledge of years of police work, allowing him and Pressly to become homicide detectives in the biggest and most crowded city in human space.

The Mega-city of Neo-Tokyo took up most of the Kantō region, the largest city in human space, a whopping 32,000 km2 of metropolis. Arcologies rose several kilometres into the sky. One billion people lived in the city, many of whom lived, worked and died never leaving their arcology.

Such a city was rife with crime. From motorcycle gangs that ruled entirely blocks, Grey criminals cutting out people's brains and greyboxes to sell their memories, Terrorists, smugglers, drug dealers, murderers, rapists and the vile tax dodgers.

Hargreave was a detective in this seedy city. He lived in the Minato Ward, only a few miles from the coast, and one of the most crime ridden parts of the city. It was also one of the richest, thanks to the enormous Minato spaceport, where ships from all across the galaxy landed and took off. From Khar Shan to the Citadel, if you went through human controlled Orion space you ended up at the Minato Spaceport.

Hargreave was making his way to the elevator. At over 2km above the ground level, event he fast elevator would take time to reach the garage. Hargreave walked into the elevator, his head looking down at his cuffed black boots, and the doors closed behind him. He looked up at the mirror.

His Steel grey hair was shorter then it had been two years prior, but still ran to the top of his neck. His scar on his right temple had almost fully healed, leaving only a tiny bit of red on the side of his face, nothing compared to the scar running down his right eye. He hadn't shaven for two days, and a dark grey beard was beginning to form. His eyes had the start of bags forming under them.

There was another scar that lingered, the one running down his chest and back. He had usually kept his chest hidden at all times, since such a wound was not usually survivable. No surgery bisected a man entirely as the black metal dagger had.

It meant that Hargreave hadn't had sex since well before he left on Operation "Return to Sender" 53 years ago. Quite a dry spell. One that would likely continue. Biologically his body was only in it's late thirties, his grey hair mostly from stress and trauma that Hargreave had long got over, but he felt... old. Hargreave had been one of the first of those born late enough to get the Telomere extension nanites the moment they were old enough, but even now he felt old. The human population stood at nearly 370 billion confirmed souls,but even that wasn't the total number, as none were quite sure given how independent some colonies had, especially those few outside the Orion arm.

Of that 370 billion, 210 billion of them were younger than him. Many of those already old when they got the telomere project were beginning to die, usually from none age related illnesses or accidents, but quite a few from euthanasia. Given the enormous human population, euthanasia had been legalized across most of human space years ago, though more religious governments like the Mormons still refused to allow it.

Hargreave, or 'Joshua Grahm', looked away from the mirror, listening to the radio being played through the speakers in the elevator.

" _..od Morning Minato ward! This is 98.7fm coming to you live from our tower of the Akira arcology! It's another foggy morning here in Tokyo, with a chance of rain in the lower levels. So if your ground side don't forget an umbrella.!_ " The smooth artificial female voice said through the speakers behind Hargreave.

" _In the news today, Batarian Hegemon Kurash Goggen steps down after a military coup. The Sol Protectorate has declared their intention to work closely with the new Hegemon government, despite making the claim only last week that they were loyal to Kurash. The AFS has condemned the coup, and unconfirmed reports of AFS ships sitting on the Kharionor Relay have not yet been confirmed, but run rampant across the extranet._ " said the radio host, a VI named Lyanna.

" _In other news, the asari republic has condemned the borderless fleets war in the terminus. The Borderless fleet has been taking part in fighting over the Prothean ruin rich system of Jorikstar-88b. The Quarian government has demanded the Borderless fleet step down as the local government has paid for half of their fleet. This is the closest tensions have come between the two fleets since the war for Ibeenor-12 six years ago."_

Hargreave checked his Omni-tool briefly. He had his suspicions about the Quarian fleet and their cult. It sounded dangerously like Reaper worship to him.

" _Finally, in more local news, the terrorist group "Free of the cradle" has lost control of the city of Escalothn in the system of Wolf 198293. The group has declared their intent to regain control of the city, but the group has been losing most of their territory within the Orion arm."_ The VI said.

Hargreave took his eyes off his Omni-tool when the elevator doors opened. He stepped out into the cold air of the underground garage. After a brief moment of searching he saw Pressly and his police car. Pressly waved out of the driver's window as Hargreave nodded to him. He made his way over.

"So double homicide?" Asked Hargreave as he climbed into the passenger door.

"Aye. Husband and wife." Said Pressly as the car automatically started and left the garage, joing the horde of automated cars outside on the streets of Tokyo.

"Names?" Asked Hargreave.

"Not yet. The beat cops have sealed off the area, but the bodies haven't been disturbed. They are waiting for us." Pressly explained. Hargreave nodded.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few seconds as the car automatically weaved between cars, the car's VI using it's emergency service privilege to force other cars to slow down and allow it to pass.

"How's Karen?" Asked Hargreave.

Pressly ran a hand through his thinning hair.

"Well... She's... Fine." Said Pressly hesitantly.

"Sounds convincing." Said Hargreave dryly.

"It's just... Have you ever actually been in a relationship?" Asked Pressly.

Hargreave shrugged.

"Not since my teenage years." Hargreave replied honestly.

"So almost a hundred years ago. Fuck me, I am talking to the wrong person." Said Pressly. Hargreave laughed

"Fuck it. I need to talk to someone about it." Said Pressly with a shrug. "So she's asking me to quit the force."

"Really?" asked Hargreave, surprised. As detectives the two of them were fairly well paid. Sure, they worked late hours, were surrounded by alcoholics and their chance of death was not exactly zero, but there were more dangerous professions.

"Well, her dad owns a ship building company." Said Pressly.

"So does my dad and brother, doesn't make me quit." said Hargreave honestly.

"I thought you were a only child Joshua." Pressly gently reminded him.

"Of course." Hargreave said nonchalantly. He doubted that the intelligence services on Earth didn't know who he was. Whether or not they were listening via Pressly's car.

"Anyway, she says that being a detective is too dangerous, and that I should take this off-world job he's offering." Said Pressly. "The pays pretty good, but it means lots of travel."

Pressly seemed to think on this for a few seconds, before shaking his head clear.

"Would you take it?" Asked Hargreave honestly. He and Pressly were friends, but a decent paying safe job was better then what Hargreave had offered two years ago.

 _The two of them watched the Earth below. A great hurricane was roaring above the Caribbean, they could see hundreds of ships dashing before them, crossing the void of space before them. From enormous mobile fabricators printing out entire ships and stations to tiny personal shuttles._

 _"Hargreave..." Pressly asked. Hargreave shot the man a look, and he quickly corrected himself. "Sorry, Grahm. What... What really was that thing. In Carcosa."_

 _"You hadn't asked before." Asked Hargreave, a single eyebrow raised. Pressly took a deep breath._

 _"I see it. In my dreams. That... Four legged monstrosity. That beating heart... Those f...Those faces." Pressly took a quick intake of air._

 _Hargreave closed his eyes and sighed, lingering briefly on the memory of the monolith he had almost worshipped on Cygnius._  
 _He opened his eyes and turned to Pressly._

 _"A Reaper. Or a part of one."_

 _"Reapers are real?" Asked Pressly._

 _"You had two weeks to ask this question. Why now?" Asked Hargreave._

 _Pressly took his gaze away from Hargreave and looked to the Earth. To the void behind it._

 _"My entire life consisted of Carcosa. My job. My wife." Pressly answered. "I had my entire life planned out, for maybe one Thousand years if I lived that long."_

 _"The Cult took that away from me. But even then my world consisted of my wife. Of finding her, or at least what happened to her." Said Pressly. "But when I saw that heart... That... Beating heart. I saw how pointless it all was. I saw the end of all things."_

 _"People talk about seeing the Earth, like we are, and it puts their lives in perspectively. We say that, but we still see ourselves as the protagonists on the stage of life. We see only what we see. Hear only what we hear. We are the centre of our own universe. Even with eh knowledge that we will die we still cling to the hope of living in the memory of people." Said Pressly._

 _"But that... Thing truly is what it is. If you are right... We will all die. There will be nothing left of us. Not even our ashes." Said Pressly. "What I saw as my entire world means absolutely nothing. I will be not even the memory of a memory."_

 _Hargreave rubbed the back of his head. How could he tell Pressly that his existence meant something when Hargreave didn't believe that._  
 _He starred at the Earth. At the billions upon billions of souls that lived below. At the progenitor of his entire existence. Of fifty thousand years of human existence, and two billion years of life. Hargreave saw the void._

 _"I was blinded by doubt once. Maybe I am insignificant in comparison to that." Said Hargreave, motioning to the planet below them._

 _"But I live. After all I've suffered, after all the suffering I have inflicted, I live. For some reason I am alive. I doubt it's because the universe has some grand master plan for me. Maybe it was god. Maybe It was fate. Maybe it was pure chance. I don't know." Hargreave admitted._

 _"So you believe that you have a purpose?" Asked Pressly._

 _"No. I made myself have a purpose. I will give meaning to my suffering." Hargreave said. "I survived, the why is my own to create."_

 _"And what is the reason you have given to your survival?" Asked Pressly. "Why are you here?"_

 _Hargreave starred. For a brief moment he saw dark stars._

 _"To survive. To make sure we all do. One way or another, we will survive." Said Hargreave resolutely._

"I don't know." Asked Pressly. "I mean... I believe in you. In what you want to do. You died and were reborn for that purpose. But if you are trying to save life itself, why are you here, as a detective in Tokyo?"

Hargreave couldn't answer him. Oh, there were excuses. To gather enough money. To gather intelligence. To get over the mental scarring. But they sounded hollow compared to the purpose he had given himself.

"You shouldn't believe in me because I died once. Lot's of people are resuscitated." Hargreave said gingerly.

"Yeah, lot's of people are awaken from death screaming as their body stitches itself together, after they have some kind of great relevation." Pressly said sarcastically.

The knowledge of what exactly happened in the dark heart of Carcosa was generally kept between the two of them. Agent Harper didn't know, Pressly's girlfriend didn't know. Hargreave hadn't visited the doctor or been shirtless around people in two years, so few even knew he had an enormous scar running down his chest.

"Look. If you were to start this grand crusade to save all life in the galaxy I'd follow you to hell and back. But here, living day to day to Tokyo... I don't know if I can stay." Pressly said honestly.

Hargreave starred out of the window for a few seconds, before sighing.

"I can't... I don't know where to begin." Said Hargreave honestly.

"...I'm sure it will come to you." Said Pressly.

They spent the rest of the journey to the crime scene in contemplative silence.

* * *

Husband and wife, lying dead on the steel ground.  
It wasn't pretty. The husband's head seemed to have collapsed in on itself. The wife on the other hand a small bullet wound going through her heart. Their blood had pooled around their body into a large puddle of crimson.

"Got an ID?" Asked Hargreave as he walked through the holographic barrier, the light shimmering as he passed the barrier. A uniformed cop followed behind him.

"CSI is delayed by traffic, we've left the body alone." The officer said simply. Hargreave turned around as Pressly threw him a pair of disposible gloves. After he put them on he squatted in the puddle of blood and began too riffle through the man's pockets. 20 years in the military had gotten Hargreave used to death.

He found the man's wallet, and too his surprise it still had money inside.  
 _Not a robbery or mugging then. The hubby was hit by a high speed or mass round. Sniper? Shotgun?_

Quickly Hargreave found an ID and took it out.

 _Robert Welles._

"Male is Robert Welles. Born 2145. Blue eyes, organ donor." Said Hargreave. He passed the ID card to Pressly, who placed it in a resealable bag.

Hargreave stepped over the man's corpse and began to riffle through the wife's. He was careful to make a few steps as possible, especially since he could make out bloody footprints leading away from the crime scene.

"Woman is Rosa Welles, born Rosa Sharpe. Born 2148." Said Hargreave, once again passing the ID to Pressly.

Hargreave looked at the crime scene for a few seconds. He saw the woman was wearing a bag. Not a handbag, a larger one made of hemp. It had a popular children's entertainment character on it, some Asari he didn't recognise. Carefully he opened it to find some children's clothing, a pair of very small posh shoes, a water bottle and a leaflet.

"What's missing." Said Hargreave. Pressly stepped towards him and looked into the bag.

"The two of them had a kid with them." Said Pressly. The two of them looked around. "But only two bodies."

"Mr Welles cause of death seems to be a head shot from a high powered gun. Mrs Welles seem's to be a pistol shot through the heart. Two seperate weapons." Said Hargreave.

"Two very different ranges." Said Pressly. The two of them stood up, blood sticking to their shoes.

"Neither body seems to have been moved, which means they likely died where they are right now. They are both next to each other, so both probably were killed at the same time." Said Hargreave.

"So. Sniper and pistol. They grab the kid, but leave the wallets and valuables." Said Pressly.

"Why kidnap the kid but kill the parents? Can't get a ransom out of the dead." Asked Hargreave, mostly to himself.

Hargreave looked around. He looked again to the bloody footprints, helpfully highlighted by a small plastic triangle.  
He stood up and walked towards them, squatting down beside them. One pair, only slightly bloody. If they were bloody then he must have been around the bodies long enough for the blood to pool around them. Perhaps the child put up a fight. There was a larger blood mark where the killer must've wiped his feet against the steel.

The direction they were going in wasn't helpful. At the moment they were in a courtyard about two hundred metres above ground level, nestled between one Arcology and three skyscraper offices. Plenty of sight lines for a sniper.

"Lot of effort." Hargreave mumbled to himself.

"Got it." Said Pressly. Hargreave turned around.

"Just did a search on Mr and Mrs Welles. Their rich. Big in the Aerospace business. And here's the clincher. They've got a four year old girl. She goes to the Yamakaze institute." said Pressly. Hargreave raised an eyebrow.

"Very exclusive private school. They specialise in Biotic children." Said Pressly.

Hargreave nodded.

"Right. So, the killers killed the parents. There was a brief struggle, likely because the kid was a biotic, but they drag her away. One man was armed with a pistol and kills the wife. Another is armed with either a sniper or a shotgun and kills the dad. If it's a sniper then they were somewhere in one of the nearby buildings..." Hargreave said.

"Officer Kilito says that the local CCTV has been wiped. The local administrative VI "Ishmael" had a glitch at 6:37." Said Pressly.

"So we can guess the time of death was then." Said Hargreave. "What on earth are the three of them doing up so early? The bag suggests they just came from school or something."

"Tokyo doesn't exactly sleep." Said Pressly. Hargreave shook his head. He walked towards the officers. They turned to him.

"Put out a APB for a missing Child. What's her name?" Asked Hargreave to Pressly.

"Jennifer Welles." Pressly replied. Hargreave nodded.

"APB for missing child, Jennifer Welles." Said officer Kilito.

"Once CSI gets here get them to work out the murder weapon on Mr Welles. Have come offices check out the nearby buildings. See if anyone with a sniper rifle lives in a room in the arcology. Have the building's VI see if any windows got opened." Ordered Hargreave.

Buildings didn't usually allow windows to be opened above 500 metres. Or at least, certainly not enough to aim a sniper rifle through.

"Pressly. Anything else of note?" Asked Hargreave.

"Not especially. I don't think there were any witnesses. Wife doesn't have a greybox, so they'll be no luck there." Said Pressly. Hargreave thought on this. If Mr Welles did the might explain needing to destroy his skull. Many criminals were caught by the victim remembering their killer's face.

"So... Well prepared killers after a child. Either they killed the parents to get to her or they wanted them dead as well." Said Hargreave.

"Pressly, check if the Welles have any other rich relatives. Maybe they wanted a ransom from someone even richer." Asked Hargreave. Pressly nodded as he searched this up on his omni tool.

"Doesn't look like it." Pressly replied after a minute. "No living relatives on either side."

 _Odd_

"Hmm... So the daughter would likely inherit the money?" Asked Hargreave.

"Can't inherit if you're missing." Pressly pointed out. Hargreave nodded.

"Right. First thing first, we're making a visit from this school. See if that was the last place they visited. I'll get a team of uniforms to check out the Welles accommodation. We got an address?" Asked Hargreave. Pressly nodded. "Right, send it to HQ."

* * *

Yamakaze academy was quite the place. Situated on the 100th story of a very expensive arcology, the place was massive. It even had an massive internal field, lit by artificial sunlight.

That was currently where the headmistress of the school was walking them through.

"This is all very well and good Mrs Moreno, but we aren't looking for somewhere to send our kid." Pressly said dryly. Hargreave bit back a laugh.

"Of course. What is this all about?" Asked the headmistress.

Pressly and Hargreave looked at each other. They were rather sure the two of them had already explained this.

"Jennifer Welles went missing. Her parents are dead." Hargreave explained bluntly.

Mrs Moreno gasped in surprise.

"Oh my god. What happened?" She asked.

"Were they here last night?" Asked Pressly. The woman turned to him.

"Yes. Our school is ran in three eight hour shifts to allow us to educate as many children as possible. Since space is such a premium here we essentially run three schools in one. Jennifer Welles is here from 12am to 8am." Mrs Moreno explained.

"What can you tell us about her and her parents?" Asked Hargreave.

She placed a finger to her chin.

"Well... Jennifer was a very powerful biotic. She was an B-1 class in fact." Said Mrs Moreno.

Pressly and Hargreave looked at each other.

"Neither of us are biotics. What does that mean?" Asked Hargreave.

"Well, essentially she is in the upper percentile of biotic power. Lots of Eezo nodes throughout her body, excellent control of it." She explained.

"Has she had an implant?" Asked Hargreave.  
She shook her head.

"No, that's the incredible thing. She was able to actually control the nodes and her powers without an implant. Something generally only the Asari can do." She replied.

Hargreave and Pressly shared a look, no doubt thinking the same thing.

"Wait... You don't think that's why she's missing do you?" Asked Mrs Moreno.

"We can't rule that out. What about the parents? Were they... good citizens." Asked Hargreave carefully. Most private schools were rife with the children of interstellar criminals.

"As far as I know. They live in Tokyo and pick up their daughter from school every morning." She replied.

"Both of them every time?" Asked Pressly.

"Yes." She replied simply.

"Right... Does everyone in the school know about Jennifer's biotic abilities?" Asked Hargreave. Mrs Moreno nodded her head.

"She has a specialised curriculum. Indeed, she has a paid scholarship by the SolP military to get her through schooling if we tailor make our lessons for her." She replied.

 _That is interesting. The government has taken special interest in her. That means Jennifer is already well known as a powerful biotic. That information could leak, and I'm sure there are hundreds of people that would want to get their hands on her. Poor kid._

"Thank you. I think that's all we have to ask for today." Said Hargreave. He turned to Pressly who nodded in agreement.

"I hope I can help." Said Mrs Moreno. All of a sudden her eyes seemed to glaze over. She mumbled something under her breath.

"Mrs Moreno?" asked Hargreave inquisitively.

"We will be exalted." She mumbled, before her eyes cleared and she looked back at the two detectives.

"I'm sorry. Can I help you?" She asked.

"No. That will be all." Said Hargreave hesitantly.

She smiled an empty smiled. After sharing a look between the two of them they slowly walked away.

* * *

" _From the dusty mesa. Her looming shadow grows. Hidden in the branches, of the poison Creosote._ " The radio croned.

"So... Powerful biotic child is kidnapped. She is well known as a powerful biotic..." Hargreave began.

"So this isn't a simple murder... Or kidnapping gone wrong. The killers knew what they were doing, destroying Mr Welles Greybox, prepared with a sniper, destroying any CCTV footage." Said Pressly.

"It seems the parents took her out of school early. Mrs Moreno said that classes ended at 8am but the VI glitches at 6:37." Hargreave said.

"so... Maybe they know she was in danger?" Said Pressly.

"And they thought the school might be in on it..." Said Hargreave, his eyes widening.

"The headmistress said that the government..." Pressly turned to the car's radio. He got out an old holopam and placed the points on his figure and palm, then fiddled with the controls for a few seconds as Hargreave switched off his Omni-tool. Pressly quickly did the same.

"The Government was interested in her. What if they thought that the parents were going to get out of their grasp and simply..." Pressly began.

"That's a big leap. So far we have nothing to really suggest that the parents knew they and the girl were in danger." Hargreave said carefully.

"Except for them getting her out of school early." Pressly reminded. Hargreave nodded.

"We need to head to their place... Maybe before anyone else does." Hargreave said.

Pressly nodded.

He quickly reactivated the car and typed in the address for the house, or more accurately apartment, of Mr and Mrs Welles.

"I have a bad feeling about this case." Said Pressly. To which, Hargreave simply nodded in agreement.


	18. Chapter 18

**_Alcubierre: Neo-Tokyo_**  
 ** _Chapter 8: The spiders web_**

Little Kensington was a rather posh arcology tower. Despite having a population of nearly a million souls it had a valet, a receptionist and an elevator operator for each of the sixty elevators.

"Cushy job." Hargreave mumbled to himself as he was walking through the foyer towards one of the many receptionists.

"Why they don't just get holograms to do it I don't know." Pressly whispered in response.

They glance towards several heavily armoured roof and floor panels. Most likely hidden turrets to deter the motorcycle gangs.  
They arrived at one of the reception desks, sat behind it was a young man, no older biologically then twenty. Perhaps just had his telomere nanites.  
He shot them a polite blank smile as Pressly leaned one arm on the desk.

"Hello, how may I help you?" Asked the receptionist. Pressly and Hargreave got out their wallets.

"TPD." They said simultaneously as they showed their badges, which quickly displayed their information in a projected hologram. "We need to see apartment number..." Hargreave began, he looked to Pressly who was rapidly looking up the information on his Omni-tool.

"Apartment 94.51." Pressly added.

"I see. One moment please." Said the receptionist hesitantly. He began to type at his terminal.

Pressly turned around, his back leaning on the desk. Hargreave's eyes fell upon the massive amount of screens behind the receptionist. Hargreave squinted as he looked carefully at one screen. It showed a bunch of armed men dressed head to toe in black, getting ready to enter a room.

Hargreave's eyes widened as the door opened, showing the number 94.51 to the camera. Hargreave made a run for the nearest elevator.

"Excuse me sir!" shouted the receptionist as he stood up out of his chair.

"Pressly!" shouted Hargreave as he shoved the elevator operator out of the lift. Pressly ran into the elevator as Hargreave pressed the button for the 94th floor.

The doors closed behind Pressly as he made his way inside.

"Make sure they can't shut down the elevator." Hargreave ordered to Pressly as he drew his gun, cocking it as he held it with both hands.

Pressly was momentarily confused, but still nodded and began to try and override the elevator controls.

"What's going on?" Asked Pressly as he fiddled with his Omni-tool.

"Some team of armed men is breaking into the Welles' room." Said Hargreave. He turned to Pressly.

"Get ready for a shoot-out." Said Hargreave, before he pressed a button on his Omni-Tool calling for backup.

Gingerly, Pressly nodded. Once he finished with the elevator controls he drew his own gun.

 _86_

Hargreave wiped his head clean of sweat, spinning his gun around his index finger.

 _87_

Pressly took a few quick breaths, rolling his shoulders and neck.

 _88_

Hargreave drew a second gun from inside his woollen coat, spinning that around in his left hand.

 _89_

Pressly looked at Hargreave's second gun, then him with a look of surprise.

 _90_

"Can't ever be too well armed." Hargreave said simply with no inflection in his voice.

 _94_

Hargreave and Pressly stormed out of the elevator. They ran to the right, towards an open door.

Hargreave ran past the open door, slamming the door into the wall and standing in front of it, whilst Pressly stood on the other side. Hargreave held his two guns up in the air and looked at Pressly. Pressly nodded and peaked around the corner, before looking back at Hargreave. He mouthed the word "six".

 _Tough odds_

"This is the police!" Shouted Hargreave. "We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands up!"

Hargreave heard the people inside stopping their frantic search through the apartment.

He also heard the gunfire rip through the wall near where he stood. The old soldier dived through the door beneath a hail of gunfire. He desperately wished to have done so whilst firing two guns into the air, but he wasn't an action hero.

Pressly peaked around the corner and opened fire blindly into the room. In the distraction Hargreave got to his feet and rushed into a nearby room.  
It turned out to be the bathroom, but that mattered little. Ceramic, tiles and a shower were better than no cover at all.

"Surrender! And I'll let you live." Hargreave shouted.

"Fuck off!" A voice shouted back. The old soldier grinned as he span one of the guns he wielded around his finger. It was going to be like that then.

He paused for a few seconds, waiting for Pressly to fire again once the men inside had stopped. Whilst Pressly unknowingly gave him some covering fire he rushed out of the bathroom, guns a blazing.

The first man he came across was hiding behind a superfluous pillar. He had noticed Hargreave only at the last second, and Hargreave placed his pistol right against his skull so as to get passed any eezo shields before pulling the trigger three times. The bloody mess that was once he skull dripped onto the obsidian floor as Hargreave dodged back around the same pillar to hide before he was hit with a torrent of bullets.

He breathed, in and out.

Nothing had ever made more sense to the man than the pure clean logic of violence. Of spilling blood. It had been his life calling, his only duty.

He felt a few bullets slam into his shield through the pillar. The stone cracking and rock dust flowing through the air.

"Blind!" Hargreave shouted. The gunmen likely had no idea what he meant, but Pressly did.

He activated his Omni-Tool and selected a program. Desperately he hoped one of his implants would do their job properly.

When he didn't hear the piercing sonic weapon, he assumed it did. Glasses on the counter snapped, one of the mirrors cracked, and the assailants couldn't help but scream. All Hargreave heard was silence, and the familiar low roar beneath such an absence of sound.

 _You are the Yellow King_ It said, in hushed whispers and static cries.

Hargreave walked around the pillar. One head shot. Another and another to get past his shields. Then a kneecap, followed by three more, again, to get past the gunman's energy shield.

 _Fuck the future. I miss the days of a single bullet doing the job.  
Wow, essentially the reverse of warrior's thoughts with the invention of a crossbow? I suppose time is a flat circle after all._

The gunman on the floor screamed as his ears bleed. Hargreave finally shut off his sonic weapon, walking over towards the man, stuck between gripping his destroyed ear drums or his splintered knee.

Hargreave sighed as he had to activate his Omni-Tool again. He knew the man wouldn't be able to actually hear him after all. The Speech to text device popped up and projecting a holographic image in front of Hargreave's face.

"Can you read?" He asked and the hologram projected.

"Fuck." The gunmen cried out in an uncomfortably loud and pained voice. "Yes."

"Speak. Who you work for, why you are here. Else you'll get one in the spine." Hargreave placed his pistol on the man's belly button, promising only that the bullet would cripple him.

"Fuck. I can't hear shit!" He shouted.

Pressly walked over, scratching at his ears.

"Fuck me. Glad you made me get that Aural implant." Said Pressly.

"Who." Hargreave ordered.

"My ears are bleeding!" Shouted the gunmen. He wasn't even reading Hargreave's words.

The old soldier sighed and fired his pistol, putting a bullet through the man's stomach and piercing his spine.

The man screamed again.

Hargreave raised his gun and instead placed it right against his skull.

"Right. No more fucking around. Tell me and you'll get to a hospital. Don't, and you'll get to a morgue." Hargreave commanded. His cerulean eyes told the truth behind the wound, regardless of the rapidly opening wound on his stomach.

"Akira!" The gunmen screamed like his life depending on it. Which was pretty accurate.

"Tell me why." Arthur growled.

"I don't know." the Gunmen replied after he read the words. "He told us to grab anything from here before the police came. Especially about the girl."

"Thanks." Said Hargreave. He looked around the room, at the corpses in the open plan kitchen. He looked to Pressly, shrugged, and pulled the trigger.

"What the hell!" Pressly shouted as Hargreave flicked his hand to get the brains off them.

"I don't want to be sued for torturing a witness." Said Hargreave nonchalantly.

"This isn't fucking SOIG! There are procedures and..." Said Pressly.

"Hey, we're cops. Every cop who's ever lived has done shit like that." The old soldier replied. "Let's grab anything we can from here. Call command, get some uniforms in here."

 _9090909 fuck formatting0000_

"Well." Said Hargreave, looking over a rather interesting note he had found inside the bloodstained apartment.

He recognised it almost immediately. Criminal organisations in the universe of omnipresent spying offered a service that was key anyone with something to hide, and something Hargreave had used twice already since he woke up from his coma.

The creation of false identities was vital for men like him. Completely faking a person from scratch. Changing DNA tags, Life histories, dental records, criminal records, facebook profiles, pornhub bookmarks. It was all vital for anyone that wished to begin again, or hide from sight. Criminal, governmental or otherwise.

And it was something it seemed the Welle's themselves had partaken in.

Akira was the link here. The man was a criminal boss, head of a Motorcycle gang that ruled the Arcology of Skagos. From drug and gun running, robberies, protection, solicitation, greyboxes and bootleg holograms. They did it all.

Akira was obviously a pseudonym, a 'subtle' reference to the incredible 1988 film of the same name, set in the then fictional city of Neo-Toyko. Of course, this meant that Hargreave was dealing with that lowest rung of humanity.

A Weaboo.

He'd let him off from this vile crime if he was actually Japanese, but the man was from the Lunar cities.

Of course, regardless of being a disgusting weaboo piece of trash the fact remained that this murder had turned from likely mugging, to likely kidnapping to organised crime with possibly shadowy connections.

"We gonna hand this one of?" Asked Pressly.

He considered the question. At this point, he could safely hand the case over to organised crime and let it go cold with them.

Then he could... What?

Go back to ignoring his calling? Ignore the reapers as humanity had seen fit to do. Every day he spent here was another closer to mass extinction. But that was true either way.

"No. Something's going on with this case. I think..." Hargreave paused, looking around.

 _We will be exalted_

The words had chased him across the universe since that fateful day in front of the Mass Relay. The teacher had mentioned it. Something was covering up what was happening here. Something linked to whatever drove his crew mad all those years ago. He remembered him talking about Arcturus. Whatever this exalted was, it had links to the destruction of what was once the nearest red giant to Sol. To the cause of the Keplerian war. Hargreave was merely a cog in this game of shadows, this spider's web.

And perhaps the very reason he was brought back lay here. Follow Jennifer, find Exalt, find the truth.

"Grab your coat." Hargreave ordered. "We're meeting with Akira."

"He's not going to want to see us." Said Pressly, though he did grab his coat.

"I know. We aren't going to give him much of a choice. A life of a little girl..." _And maybe all of humanity. Perhaps all of creation. Perhaps..._ "Is at stake."

"How?" Asked Pressly.

Hargreave smiled a foul grin, full of malice.

"I have contacts. Free of the Cradle should be enough street cred"

 _909090 seriously fuck the method in which I have to format this fics to get linebreaks in9990_

 _ **Authors note:**_

And we're back.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Alcubierre NEO-TOKYO:**_  
 _ **Chapter Eight: Decay**_

Motorbike armour was useful for a great many things. Cheap non-newtonian skin suits that could protect from sudden impacts, whilst being very light. Excellent fetish gear, though Hargreave hadn't had sex in over fifty years.

And perhaps most importantly to the task at hand, a decent means of hiding your identity when paired with a motorcycle helmet.

In the life he had once lived, of espionage, murder and terrorism, he had regularly meet with terrorist groups, either those tacitly supported by EEIS or those that had no idea that they were.

Free of the Cradle was by no means one of these groups. As anti-Sol as they were, there were certain lines they had crossed that no government want anything to do with by association. Dirty bombing Luna during the Keplerian war was the worst of them, but there crimes were many.

Hargreave was not his government. He needed contacts across the criminal world when he worked for SOIG, and no group of lunatics was too much for a lone agent.

Daron Mcquire was one such man. Criminal record stretching back all the way to the late 2000's, fifty years ago he was the head of a Free of the Cradle cell stationed in Japan. Now?

Apparently he was still the same. Fifty years and the man still gave the same amount of shits about trying to leave Earth or whatever it was Free of the Cradle said their manifesto was. The news of this... Was surprisingly sobering to Hargreave. That a man could still be doing the same thing for six decades, an entire lifetime only a century ago, was terrifying and depressing on a fundamental level.

Still, he needed the in, so he pushed his comments aside.

Pressly was waiting in the car about twenty metres away, out of sight, while Hargreave was leaning against the outer wall of what was a McDonalds.

For half a heartbeat Hargreave had no idea what decade he was in. It seemed as if he could've been stuck in any of them between 1970's to now. Only the sight of a enormous Volus transport looming over the city like a stormcloud reminded him of the year. The monstrosity was so large rain clouds formed beneath it, and Hargreave pulled up his collar as the rain began to fall, turning amber beneath the street lights of Neo-Tokyo.

A figure walked out of the darkness, his hands in his pockets.

"Carpenter." Hargreave said with a nod of his head, calling Daron by his callsign within Free of the Cradle.

"Hargreave." The figure responded with. Hargreave was struck by the name. Daron should've known him as Lovecraft, the false name he had given him sixty years ago.

"It's... You're supposed to be dead." Daron said shocked. He had only aged a few years in the ensuring decades since they had last meet, the Telomere project doing its work to keep him young.

Hargreave sighed and removed his helmet.

"I was, yet here I stand." Hargreave replied.

"My God. The years have not been kind to you." Daron said, moving his head to glare at every square inch of his face.

"Thanks." Hargreave said bluntly. "What the hell are you still doing with Free of the Cradle? I've never known terrorist cultists to have long life expectancies."

Daron shrugged.  
"I'm mostly just admin. I don't care about the cause, but they pay me to sort out wages, munitions, smuggling, all that paperwork, so I stay on."

"Still... Sixty years?" Arthur asked.

"Well, I won't be doing it much longer. None of us will be doing much for much longer I suppose." Daron replied.

"What?" Asked Hargreave.

"You know. The Reapers." Said Daron as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You.. You know about the Reapers?" Asked Hargreave.

"Yeah man. A lot of us in the business of terrorism do. A lot of humanity as a whole does too." Said Daron. "There's nothing we can do to stop their coming so... We just continue as we are you know."

"What!" Asked Hargreave, stepping forwards towards the man.

"Look, most everyone knows that humanity and the rest of the galaxy is going to be wiped out at some point. No one can change that, you can't change that. So we just... keep going."

"There's always another way." Hargreave growled.

"What's the point? The Reapers apparently are a hyper advanced machine weapon that is coming for us. Oh, the Citadel aliens think that perhaps they can do something about it, but why struggle?" Asked Daron.

"Because I want to live. To survive" Hargreave growled.

"None of us survive. In the end. These Telomere extensions can only keep us going for so long. And let's say future humans upload their minds into robot shells or whatever. So what? Entropy cannot be abated. The end of all things is inevitable, inescapable, incoming. At the end of the day, we've got to go out one way or another. Let's go out by our ordained fate at the hand of the Reapers." Said Daron, talking about the secret and terrible fate of all life as if he was describing his summer holidays.

"Is... Is all this common knowledge?" asked Hargreave incredulously.

"Not, you know, completely common. The average pleb who goes on Reddit or whatever doesn't know, but anyone who's spent even a little time on the wrong side of the law, or really anyone in any of the myriad cults around the galaxy knows." Daron replied. "I mean, reaper cults are a dime a dozen in Orion and the Terminus."

"So... How are you alive?" Asked Daron, changing the subject.

"How did you know I was Hargreave?" Asked Hargreave.

"Oh, they declassified a bunch of shit a few decades after the Keplerian war, coupled with the fact I ain't stupid and your the most famous SOIG agent of all time, for good and ill."

The Old soldier thought back, to the cloud of ash he created, to the thousands he had killed at Cittagaze, and the fire he watched burn an entire world..

"Hopefully not all of it." Hargreave mumbled.

"So?" Asked Daron. "Have you actually been deep cover since Return to Sender or something?"

Hargreave almost wanted to lie. To tell him that he had indeed been doing that. But...  
The man, this terrorist, was the first person from his old life he had even the beginnings of a conversation with.

"No. I doubt they declassified Return to Sender, but the mission put me in a coma for fifty years." Said Hargreave.

"Nah. No one believes the Keplerian Dreadnought story, but I don't know anyone that knows the objective truth." Said Daron. He shrugged, rain dripping from his coat. "If there is one."

"So... Why did you get in contact with me? I assume it wasn't to shoot the shit or debate futility in the face of inevitable extinction." Asked the Free of the Cradle terrorist.

"I'm trying to get in contact with a man, and I need to do it under the table. You're one of my last underworld contacts from my SOIG days still alive or in Sol, so I came to you." Hargreave explained. Daron nodded.

"Right. Who's the guy?" Asked Daron.

"Akira. Head of..." Hargreave began.

"I know him. Weaboo, de facto leader of the Skagos Arcology? We've dealt with him in the past." Said Daron.

"Great." Hargreave clasped his hand. "Well?"

"What do you need?" asked Daron.

"I need you to vouch for me, I need to go undercover." Hargreave explained. Daron scratched the back of his neck.

"You're... No offence, but you're a bit old to be a grunt in a motorcycle gang. It's more for hip forty somethings rebelling against society."

"I've seen Akira. The movie." The old soldier.

"Good movie." Daron added with a smile, to which Hargreave nodded.

"I can mock up a leather jacket with 'Good for your health, bad for your education' on it. I'm pretty sure that will..."

"What's this all for? If you don't mind me asking." Daron asked.

"A little girl was kidnapped and I think something bigger is going on." Hargreave explained.

Daron grew pale.

"Do not tread there Hargreave. EXALT are watching." Daron warned.

"Who the fuck are EXALT?" Hargreave asked angrily, gripping the man by his collar.

"They... They run this place." Said Daron.

"This place?"

"Humanity man. They've got fingers in every fucking pie you can think of. Just... Say the girl was killed Hargreave." Said Daron.

"I've got nothing to lose, nothing they could possibly threaten me with. I've died once. It's over rated." Hargreave warned. Daron shook his head.

"You mess with them, you can expect that everyone you've ever meet will be killed. I only know about them because... Well, they run Free of the Cradle."

"What?" Asked Hargreave, confused.

"Yeah man. I have no idea why, but Free of the Cradle never was a legit thing. I used to think it was, back when I wore Che Guevara shirts and had a girlfriend with dyed blue hair and a fetish for Turian dick." Daron said bitterly. "But... They control the opposition and the mainstream. They are the secessionists and the loyalists. They are everywhere."

"Dime a dozen fucking conspiracy shit then. Every government watches its citizens at all hours of the day." Hargreave said offhandedly.

Daron shook his head again.

"They don't need to watch. They simply are." Said Daron.

"Well then, in for a penny in for a pound. Get me a meeting with Akira, or I'll splatter your brains onto that puddle over there and..." Hargreave stopped.

"Why are you doing this man? What's the point?" Asked Daron.

"The life of a little girl..."

"There are billions of little girls in the galaxy. She don't matter none." Daron insisted.

"They all..."

"Hargreave. She's going to die. We all are. Ain't no reason to spread more death on the account of one person." Said Daron, raising his arms up in submission.

"You're right. Eventually all of us are going to die at some point." Hargreave conceded. He let go of Daron's collar with one hand and drew his pistol, placing the cold metal against Daron's temple, the same place he himself had lost himself on a cold metal table fifty years ago.

"But I can remove the uncertainty. Let your last moments be standing in a shit ally reminding yourself that you have done nothing with your life for the last sixty fucking years." Hargreave growled. "Let your future decay into nothing. Perhaps your Greybox will start up and you'll relive your entire life in an instant, knowing of your fate but unable to change it. Or, you can help me and continue in blissful uncertainty."

"..." Daron paused, weighing up his options, seeming to actually consider certain death here than aiding Hargreave against... EXALT.

"I'll get you your meeting. What are you going to do with him?" Asked Daron after a few moments.

"Interrogate him. Torture if I have to. Find out why he's trying to cover this up, who this girl is." Hargreave explained.

"You're going to have to fight your way out of a fucking Acrology to do it." Said Daron.

"Leave that to me." Hargreave explained bluntly. He activated his Omni-tool and let go of Daron's collar. "Call this number when you've set up the meeting."

"You better dress and act the part Hargreave. They ain't gonna let a cop in." Daron insisted.

To which, Hargreave only nodded.

 _9090909 Still fucking hate the formatting of this site, and the inability to reply to reviews publicly. Also, thanks for your loyalty Pteaset9090909_

 _ **Author's notes:**_

Just under six months to get one chapter then two in two days? You betcha. Next one is action heavy. As in, really action heavy.


	20. Omake: Why humanity are the worst

**_Alcubierre- Omake_**

Why Humans are the worst sapient species in the galaxy  
Written by Aras Divan, creator of the "worst sapient species series"

Foreword.

I've written about many species and their flaws in the last few years. The Turians, and their crippling issues that leave them to rely on their many client races. The Krogans, and their depression. The culture cesspool that is the Asari. The stupidity of my own species that prides itself on being intelligent. The Batarians, the Quarians, the Volus, Elcor, Vorcha, Raloi, Geth. I've written about them all. Some have called me Xenophobic. Others a genius who speaks the truth. I'd say a little of both.

But truly, my vitriol has been brewing for one of the newer races in the galaxy. The long lived, oh so special humans.

In case you have ignored these isolationist dicks for the last fifty years, humanity came unto the scene in 2134, having came out of a war for their own survival ten years before, and having committed genocide on their enemy. Not a great first impression.

Unlike many first contacts, the Humans had a pretty expensive extra-planetary empire, stretching for hundreds of light years around their home planet. The main reason for this was the early creation of a unique FTL device they call the alcubierre drive. This drive allowed them eezoless FTL at much faster speeds, allowing them to spread across their nearby systems without the need (or indeed, the knowledge) of Eezo or Mass Relays.

The lucky bastards also slowed down their ageing, allowing them to age only one in ten years, meaning that theoretically they will leave for a thousand years. They do this after they reach twenty years old.

So, you have a species with recently discovered longevity, a powerful FTL drive system and years of relative peace. Surely they should have formed a great empire of the stars?

No. Humanity cannot work with itself. Before the Keplerian war even their home system was divided between various governments that hated each other. Their colonies hated Earth, Earth hated it's colonies.

Humans, on a fundamental level, perhaps more than any other species in the entire galaxy, hate their own kind. Before their first contact they had roughly two hundred extra-solar colonies, and they all hated each other. Some were outright dumping grounds for cults and hardline religious sects, others were simply because, well, because they needed someone to hate.

But fine. Humanity hadn't actually gone to war. There were skirmishes, anti-terror operations (I'll come back to this) and the like, but peace was there.

Indeed, I believe that pre Keplerian war humanity would've been a great addition to the council, perhaps even deserving of an eventual council seat if they could unite.

Post Keplerian war... Well.

Firstly, let's talk about the elephant in the room. The ASF, SolP and various other human governments involved in the conflict insist that the death of 98% of the Keplerian population was because of the ubiquity of the implants they forced upon them. And they've stuck with this story. Every corpse (Apparently) killed on that day in late 2124 had one of those implants. They cannot however justify the clearly artificial Keplerian flu that had almost completely wiped out the species, that allowed the ASF and SolP to set up internment camps for them, and to colonise their now Keplerian free worlds.

Nowadays the Keplerian population stands at a mere three million. This species has an much higher than average rate of alcoholism, drug addicts, suicide rates and Grey addicts. Of course, so does humanity.

But not only did the Keplerian war show humanity's willingness to wipe out their enemies to the last. Something happened (Conspiracy theories link it to the Operation Return to Sender or Operation Oppenheimer, which doesn't have a glossy movie to lie about its events) during the Keplerian war that completely change the collective unconsciousness of humanity. Certain elements of humanity link it to their demented 'Reapers'. Whatever it was, the general Zeitgeist of humanity changed from one of hope (though many people dispute this, saying things were equally bleak back then) to one of resigned depression. Accepting extinction from this mythical beings.

The fact that Reaper cults are accepted within human space whilst illegal elsewhere in the galaxy says a lot.

So, post Keplerian war you have a species that has resigned itself to extinction. Not all of them. The average person can only say they have a vague feeling of inevitability.

Then we have our first contact with Humans. Where they almost attacked an Elcor ship, where they aligned with one of the least popular species in the galaxy (The Batarians), and of course, refused to help the rest of the galaxy work out the alcubierre drive. This is the stickler. Even today, if anyone but one of their own massive energy companies attempts to create a negative mass generator you can be sure 'terrorists' will blow it up. Humans can offer little else but negative mass to the rest of the galaxy.

In the past I've talked about the inbred cultural cesspool of the Asari. But Human's culture is outright fucking extinct.  
Nothing original has been created by humans in near on fifty years. Human cinema seems to consist of endless remakes, sequels, reboots, adaptations and lowest common denominator garbage. And it's not just mainstream modern culture that seems to be more inbred than the Salarian Matriarchs.

Even individuals seem to only want repeats of the same stuff. Seem to have nostalgia for years they were not even alive for. Human young adults (Between the ages of twenty and fifty for argument, though in reality biologically that could be between 20 and 120 years old) currently suck of the 2080's, with an obsession with neon, synth music, garish ugly fashion and the films of that era.

This image is perpetuated by companies smart enough to latch onto this neo-nostalgia, which since this has been the only means of human culture since the start of the millennium is all of them, put forth this idea despite the fact it never existed. Humans alive a hundred years ago would tell you that synth was just an instrument, not its own fucking genre, that nanite legwarmers were for the most basic of bitches, and that yes, the film industry hasn't been good since the 20th century.

I believe that this obsession with the past is perhaps the most cynical and depressing part of human culture. They yearn for their childhoods, which in a species that will live to perhaps a thousand years is... unhealthy to say the least. Childhood in humans is perhaps 1% of their lifetime nowadays, but these mega-corps has infantilised modern man, making it obsessed with bland pop culture, youth, nostalgia and repeating the past.

So, humans are culturally extinct? So what?  
Well, if that was the only problem I'd put them on the same level as the Asari, and believe me the Asari has noticed the chilling similarities. Asari-Human relationships are the rarest in the galaxy, perhaps because both humans and Asari's don't want to be stuck with someone for a thousand years, despite all they say about love and all that non-salarian bollocks.

But no. That is not the only problem with humanity.

The human obsession with the past has created a new form of degenerate within their society, and it is perhaps the most sad and existential terrifying of all.

Grey Addicts. In order to escape the inevitable fact that their brains were not designed to last one thousand years humans created the grey box, an implant that allows them to record and store memories indefinitely. This is why humans rent movies btw, they can just replay the movie in their head, or why if you've ever gone out and then dumped a human you can be creeped out every time they go into a greybox assisted dream.

This created a terrifying social disease in humans. So bleak are their predictions of the future (Especially those that believe in Reaper cults without following them) that they will purposefully create a single perfect day, hook themselves up into life support if they can afford it, or leave the dream only to commit crimes to pay for it if they can't, and repeat the same day over and over and over again in their mind.

The Drell, who have the same ability naturally, do not do this. But humans would rather stay in their Plato's cave then live in reality.

Emancipated, addicted, existential dead, this grey addicts have tried to create an afterlife for themselves on earth. Many Grey addicts, especially those permanently hooked up to life support, believe they are dead, and they are experiencing heaven, a repeat of a single perfect day.

The ultra rich amongst the Grey addicts can even buy the memories of others to live a life they might never otherwise. Terrifyingly, this includes memories of suicide, rape, drug abuse (The good old fashioned kind), murder, self mutilation, cannibalism. Enterprising degenerates will purposefully tailor a single day for rich clients, doing any illegal and monstrous shit they want to experience from the safety of their own head.

Humans rarely exist outside their council given Orion arm. Only a few scant independent colonies exist in the Terminus. They use this to refuse to comment on complicated political issues. At any given point the ASF support the Batarians over the Turians in the colonisation of the Attican traverse, you can bet SolP support the Turians just to spite them. Both governments might have criminalised slavery, but like the council they are pretty fucking blind about the Batarians.

Ultimately, humans deserve their depression over the future, because I doubt the future is bright for such an awful species. Or, perhaps, they are already dead, and merely sleepwalking their way through existence, priding themselves on their hedonism and immorality, their apathy to life and death as a species. I hope they never become a council race, and I hope they turn only more insular, so that we don't have to watch their disgusting culture eat itself to survive.


	21. Chapter 20

**_Alcubierre: Neo-Tokyo_**  
 ** _Chapter nine: Fucking Weaboos_**

He cycled through his Omni-Tool, searching desperately for the appropriate soundtrack.

 _1437-Taurus_  
Why he had that song on his Omni he had no idea, he hated neo-new-retro Synthwave.

 _The last cry- Urion Fraz  
_ Krogan death metal was a bit niche, even for him.

 _Demons of Cittagaze- Return to Sender OST  
_ He didn't like his masturbation to be in musical form. Fuck that movie.

 _Grip'em all-_ _Carpenter Brut/Death grips  
_ Oh nice. Old school.

The song played inside his head as he leaned against his motorcycle. Dyed black hair lined his chin and sat atop his head, some light foundation hiding his crow's feet. He looked about a decade younger, and hated it. In a world of near immortality people still seemed to defaultly respect those that looked old and weathered. But a disguise was a disguise.

Finally Pressly joined him.

"I can't believe we are going through with this." Pressly said.

"Just wait outside the Arcology if shit goes really wrong. Call in backup if you have to." Hargreave ordered.

"What constitutes shit going wrong?" He asked.

Hargreave grinned as he put on his motorcycle helmet.  
"Me dead."

Pressly rolled his eyes and made his way to his car, whilst Hargreave sat atop his bike.

Well, it wasn't always his bike. He 'confiscated' it from a member of the Imazato Stallions, a biker gang that ran only a single street in the outskirts of the city. Red, smooth metal sat between his thighs in a way that suggested that whoever originally owned this bike was compensating for something.

The city lights blurred past him, stretching and redshifting with his approach. So many automatic sensors, controls and systems were running the bike that any possible enjoyment he could've extracted from the experience was robbed from him. Even travelling at a blistering 200km an hour through heavy traffic was a silent, joyless affair.

It took only minutes to arrive at his destination, to pick up Daron. He brought the bike to a stop at a street corner, keeping it up with his right leg.

"Get on." He said through his helmet.

Daron nodded as he put on his own helmet, a gaudy thing of black with fire patterns painted on. It might only be made worse if the flames were blue.

He kicked, and the bike sped off again. The silence of it's electric engine ringing in his head. The bike was so quiet the two of them could even hold a conversation.

"Akira and his gang believe you're infamous Byzantine rider Carter Blut. Do not do anything that might suggest you are anyone but him." Daron explained.

"Anything I need to be aware of?" Asked Hargreave as he dodged a massive eight wheeled monstrosity.

"Blut is italian." Daron said.

"I'm not doing an accent." Said Hargreave.

"Please do. I want to see you try." Said Daron.

"I don't."

They continued down the busy streets of the neon city, roads criss-crossing above and below them, strands of cappilaries and veins circulating the blood of the city.

 _God that line of coke I did is really kicking in._

"I won't be going into the Arcology with you. Once you pass through those front doors you are on your own." Daron stressed.

Hargreave blinked, and his HUD appeared in front of his eyes.  
Three shield generators purred within his armour. Hopefully enough. If not... He died before. He wasn't afraid.

"How many gangers are inside the building?" Asked Hargreave.

"Fuck are you asking me that for? I don't know, all I did is arrange this meeting, not fucking plan a heist." Daron shouted.

"Fair." Hargreave replied with a shrug.

"Left here." Said Daron. Hargreave nodded and tilted the handlebars, and the bike smoothly and frictionlessly turned left, before driving up a ramp.

"I figured you didn't want to enter the Arcology at the bottom floor. It's a piece of shit, so half the elevators are broken, and you do not want to climb up two kilometres of stairs." Daron said as way of explanation.

"Good to know." The old soldier replied, rethinking his inevitable exit strategy.

They climbed the ramp for what must've been a kilometre into the air, rain streaming down his visor like blood, the sky a dark orange, lit by neon and LEDs, ebbing and flowing above.

"God. Look at what we are doing to Earth." Said Daron as he starred at the nightsky.

"Shut up." Hargreave growled, not wanting a rant about humanity ruining the planet that Free of the Cradle cunts usually ranted about.

They came before an above ground car park, that seemed to have been outright carved into the side of the arcology. In front of it men wielding assault rifles stood in front of it, and as Hargreave approached their raised their own guns, trained on him.

He came to the entrance and came to a stop. Daron jumped off and explained the situation. After a number of harsh and hurried words they lowered their guns.

One of them came forth, wearing a red leather jacket over his black non-Newtonian armour.  
"Hand over your weapons. No guns inside Skagos." He said in Japanese, Hargreave's Omni-tool translating the words inside his head.

"For fucking real?" Hargreave asked exasperatedly, though in truth was already aware.

"Do it." The guard ordered, his grip tightening on his gorgon-make rifle.

Hargreave made a big show of sighing and huffing before handing over his pistol on his thigh, then, upon further prodding, the six inch knife at his knees.

"Don't cut yourself on it." Hargreave said snarkily.

Once he finally got the go ahead he sped off to find a parking space. The parking lot was huge, four stories. Hundreds of bikes sat hear, charging. There were also much heavier trucks and cars, no doubt for the odd bank robbery or something along that lines. On the fourth floor he finally found a free space right next to the edge of the building, where he knew he'd need to keep the bike. As he shut of the engine he looked over the edge.

A kilometre into the air, and he couldn't tell. The city roared in neon and pain, a labyrinth of lights, men and chaos stretching above and below him. The ground invisible to his eye, hidden by a great white choking fog. Intermittent gunfire screamed across the city.

Paved in blood, bathed in neon, shrouded in eternal shadow.  
 _Coolsville... Neo-Tokyo sucks_

"Mr Blut? This way please." Said one of the gangmembers. Hargreave turned, aspying that he stilled held a death grip on his gorgon assualt rifle. Hargreave removed his helmet, placing it on his bikeseat and walking with him. He spared a glance towards Daron, who simply nodded towards him and headed to a different lift below him. No doubt to go back to ground level and get out before all hell broke loose. Hargreave rolled his neck. That was certainly what was going to happen here after all, no two ways about it.

Hargreave and the gangmember attending him walked into a different lift. With a quick glance to the camera within the elevator Hargreave did a quick equipment check.

He had four shield generators strapped to his armour and body, powered by four generators. Bulky, uncomfortable and burning his skin where they made naked contact, they were hopefully going to keep him alive. He checked his rappel cord at the small of his back. Twenty metres of nanotube attached to a magnetic grip.

Finally, he gave solid punch of his semi liquid armour, and it instantly hardened. Just as it should.

"Do you dye your hair?" His escort asked curiously. Hargreave turned to the much younger man. He looked like he should still be in fucking diapers. Perhaps twenty biologically, which meant he was anything from twenty to about sixty.

"Yeah. I went prematurely grey in..." Hargreave replied, before realising he needed an actual excuse.

 _Can't say the Keplerian war, I've no idea if 'Carter Blut' was old enough to fight in it. Fuck, think of something._

"When I was tortured by some Terminus Warlord." Hargreave finished. His escort looked sympathetic, also unable quite how to respond to that.

"That sucks man." His escort said sympathetically. Hargreave couldn't help but grin at that.

"Your concern is touching." Hargreave replied sarcastically, winking at the man.

He laughed, but before long returned simply to standing there. The song in the elevator seemed to be Toto-Africa instrumental of all things.  
"Work here long?" Hargreave asked, desperately to pass the time as the elevator made the long several kilometre journey to the top of the Arcology.

"About a year. Brother's a grey addict, so I have to support him." The gangmember replied.

"Ouch. I've not sure I've ever had a day good enough to repeat over and over again to be honest." Hargreave admitted sadly. And that was the truth. Oh sure, he'd had days of accomplishments, but not... not true joy. Always tinged with regret and fear. Perhaps maybe the battle of sol. The adrenline of tearing through the Keplerian fleet, feeling the rush of battle, the thrill of the hunt, the fear and ecstasy of being so close to death.

But even this was tainted, by the implant that had been inside his head, screaming and tearing at his mind.

Hargreave stared into the void for a moment. Why was he here? Why was he doing this? He should be preparing for what was coming, the dark stars, the machines that will destroy all life. The endless cycle of death that had continued for a billion years. Maybe more. He knew more than anyone else what was coming. Everyone else that might have even an inkling had long given up, content to die.

Death was no option. Perhaps literally, since he had died twice. Once had taken him fifty years to recover. The other, merely a day.

Why. Why was he here? Why?

For half a heartbeat, Hargreave considered the man he could've been. A well paying job for Hargreave Aerospace had been waiting for him had he simply reached out for it. His brother had taken it. His brother had a family. Loved ones. His brother had his own name, could walk around the galaxy as himself, not as Grahm, or Prestoria. His brother had been free. He hadn't have to learn about the end of all life. He wasn't burdened with it.

Another could have been the captain of the Peqoud. Another might have made first contact with the Keplerians. Or might never have at all. Saved billions of lives. Another wouldn't have damned Cittagaze to be called Yellowstone. Another would have been with Shepard. Another was.

Another person...

Another person may have failed to throw off the Reaper's shackles. Another might have died in Carcosa and given himself to the Yellow king. Another might have allowed the city to live.

He. He had been the one to stand beneath the rain, the storm, the clouds and the infinite sea of black. If, was, could've been meant nothing. He could not change what had happened. He could not spend his life reliving a single perfect day. There was no such thing. Those that had taken the Grey, those that lived only within their own skulls were lying to themselves.

He was here. He had watched Cittagaze die. Condemned millions of souls to die. He had brought humanity to it's knees, and in doing so made it what it was today.

Hargreave blinked a tear from his eye.

"You alright there Mr Blut?" Asked his escort, genuine concern in his voice.

"I'll live." Hargreave admitted. That was the terrible truth of all of this. He'd live. Live to see his species decay into this pit of nihilism and hedonism. Live to see his loved ones move on, whilst he missed the best years of his life. Live to see the end.

"Floor 2983." Said a tinny, artificial voice through the same speakers that had been playing Toto not a second before.

Hargreave and his escort stepped out onto the floor. The first he noticed was the flickering LED's above his head. Before him was a bannister, which he walked towards.

And he looked down. A weaker man would've been sickened at the site. The entire building stretched below him. A three or four kilometre drop to the ground. Millions of people likely lived inside this building, despite the state of decay. Millions lives in service to a head of a gang.

Hargreave couldn't quite see the floor of the building, which his escort walked to stand next to him and explain.

"It rains inside here. We're actually inside the clouds up here." He explained.

"Uh huh." Hargreave said, attempting to sound disinterested. No doubt Carter Blut had been inside arcologies like this before. To Hargreave, he had been a detective these last few years. He hadn't had to raids on places like this.

"Most people who live in here haven't seen the outside world in years." His escort added.

"Not much to see out there." Hargreave said dismissively. "Come, let's meet your boss." He slapped his guard on the back. He nodded, and motioned for Hargreave to follow him as they walked through a labyrinth of corridors. Hargreave committed them to memory, using his greybox to precisely remember the way out.

Finally, they reached a reinforced steel door, guarded by two men. Both armed with ornately decorated shotguns. White with gold trimmings and small totems hanging from chains around them. They wore the same black non-Newtonian armour as everyone else here, as well as the Red leather jacket above.

"This is Mr Cater Blut." Said his escort.

The two guards tried to psyche him out, stare him down. Hargreave simply coughed in return, raising a single eyebrow. Daring them to attack him, challenging them to say no, to defy him.

They knocked once, then twice, then again on the reinforced door. It opened inwards.

"You may enter." They said. Hargreave almost laughed. Clearly they had seen too many fucking movies.

He past the threshold, and the solid metal door closed behind him.

He found himself in an enormous office. Plush leather sofas on either side of him. An enormous plane of glass showing the entire city. A desk of what looked like gold. Anime posters hung up around the office, from Moeshit to the most generic Isekai.

Hargreave internally cringed, remembering perhaps his teenage years. At least he had better taste then he told himself, the veracity of such a statement perhaps subject to some pretty fierce scrutiny.

"Mr Blut." Akira finally spoke. He too wore the red leather jacket of his gang. And nothing else. His body looked emancipated. Thin, his ribs poking through his skin. He was six foot, which only made him look more gaunt and dying. His eyes were bloodshot pits, ringed with red shadows. His nostrils were red and scarred, likely from substance abuse. His hair was matted, gross.

"Akira." Hargreave said with a nod, ignoring the gross sight before him.

"I've heard good things about you through our mutual friend." Akira said, standing up and content to ignore his nakedness.

"I'm glad. Byzantine is getting a bit boring for me, and I yearn for the homeworld." Hargreave said with a shrug.

"Of course. The capital of human culture!" Akira shouted manically. Hargreave glanced towards one of Akira's anime posters. He honestly could not tell if it was new one, one from seventy years ago or even further back.

"Take your word for it." Hargreave replied.

"Well, If you want to join a crew you needn't look further than us. The NTPD are cracking down on most of the other gangs, but here, inside my castle, we can hold out for years if they even try to attack us." Akira ranted. He turned, starring out of the window.

"Safe. Secure. Free." He said to himself.

"If I wanted Safety and Freedom I'd be an asteroid miner. Freedom however. Freedom to do as I like, when I like, damn the consequences? That sounds pretty good." Hargreave replied, moving to stand next to Akira to look out to the window.

"I like that." He said. "Many of my men and women work for me to live here. Do crime to support a brother, a drug or grey habit."

"I take drugs and the grey to support a crime habit." Hargreave lied with a smirk.

"Old school adrenaline rush. Nice. Can't beat it really." Said Akira. He moved to sit back at his desk, and motioned for Hargreave to sit on the other side of it. When Hargreave sat in the red leather sickeningly sticky chair Akira spoke again.

"So. I don't usually do one on one interviews. Got an empire to run after all. But me and Daron go way back. Free of the Cradle are good suppliers." Akira explained. "So when he gave such a glowing recommendation of a single person I had to know why."

"Well, I don't mean to..."

"Why on Earth he'd think I'd be so fucking stupid Mr Grahm. A fucking cursory facescan showed your identity the moment you walked into the building." Said Akira, growling.

Hargreave paled for a second, then smiled.

"Fair enough. But you're still wrong on that front. And, despite knowing I was a cop here for you, you still let me into your office with only two armed guards?"

Hargreave felt the heat of the barrel of a shotgun against the back of his head.

"I wanted to watch." Akira growled.

"Then perhaps you aught to do a little more research." Hargreave kicked his chair back as he stood up. The guard directly behind him fell to his knees. Another aimed his shotgun and fired immediately, but the shards of metal accelerated to a percentage of the speed of light smashed only against his shields. The old soldier stumbled back slightly, before rushing towards the gunman.

He fired again, but Hargreave slide across the floor, missing the gun of fire and death that roared in the office.

He slide into the man's legs, kicking him to the floor. In a moment Hargreave was a top him. As the guard despertely reached for the shotgun only slightly out of his hands Hargreaves hands tightened around his throat. And squeezed.

Hargreave watched his eyes bulge, his face turn red. Watched him quiver. He felt one, then another shotgun blast against his eezo shields, now threatening to break if the man fired again. At last Hargreave saw it. That unmistakable look in a man's last moments. When they realised when all the strings were cut they were nothing more than meat. That he could just let go and drift off into comforting non-existence. That he didn't have to hold on so tight.

Hargreave felt the last shotgun blast strip away his defences entirely. He took his hands off the throat of a dead man and charged forth towards the other gunman. Not to be be taken in melee, the man moved to uppercut Hargreave in the skull with the butt of his shotgun. A simple bit of leaning back narrowly saved Hargreave from having his jaw broken. He instead reached for the shotgun and fought to take it. The two men wrestled for the gun, falling over furniture, firing into anime posters, screaming god knows how many curses.

Hargreave prepared himself for pain, and head butted the man. The guard stumbled back, weakening his grip on the shotgun enough for Hargreave to accidentally fling it into the glass window.

 _No matter. I felt like bloodying my knuckles anyway_

With a bloodthirsty grin Hargreave walked towards the disarmed and slightly disorientated gunman.

Only for the two outside guards, and his escort, rushed into the room, holding their guns up at him.

"Well. Let's make this interesting then." Said Hargreave as he rolled his neck.

9090909 _Fuck this site's format yes I am going to say this every time till you like it. Can't even type in the adress of this site what kind of bollocks is that?00000000_

 _ **Authors note:**_

 _So, I got some interesting feedback from the last chapter, both in Reviews and Pms._

 _If it isn't obvious, this story is very much Anti-HFY. I've no time for wanking about how great humanity is, giving them super tech and making them the saviours of all sapient life everywhere. Humanity, as a species, sort of sucks. Or at least, is no better than the others in the galaxy. Immortality (Near) and perfect memories have not improved the human condition but only made it worse. Hargreave, missing the last fifty years of his life, is sort of an outside observer to this decay._

 _He's still a part of it, this isn't some sudden cultural decay brought on by tech and the Reapers, but the natural state of humanity. It's up to him, perhaps as an outside observer but also someone dedicated to saving this POS species, to bring them out of this quagmire. Also, because I prefer to spit this out in one day rather than spend ages writing (I've got other shit to work on y'know?) this is split into at least two parts. Fuck you if you don't like it, go favourite some story about humanity uniting as one, discovering super FTL, building super dreadnoughts and crossing over with Halo or Battlestar or something._

 _To the rest of you, thanks for reading. I love you all._


	22. Chapter 21

**_Alcubierre: NEO-TOKYO_**

 ** _Chapter ten: Only way up_**

 _A/N: This chapter goes really well with some Perturbator, Carpenter Brut or something along those lines. You have been warned._

* * *

Hargreave grabbed the disarmed gunmen just as the new arrivals opened fire. As his shields recharged, burning against his skin as they vented heat his human shield's began to break under fire. When the shield broke at last Hargreave threw him forwards and rolled to the side behind a torn apart couch.

The bruised, battered man fell towards his comrades, who grabbed him as he fell into their arms. Hargreave lay on his back, placing both feet on the back of the couch, then pulling back with his legs and kicking forwards with all of his strength. The couch flew into the four of them, smashing into them and sending all four to the floor.

Hargreave got back up and ran over, picking up a shotgun from one of the prone guards. He fired twice into his once human shield, killing him, then strode over them like an angel of death, unleashing round after round into their skulls, splattering the carpet with viscera.

Once he kicked the last body he turned the shotgun towards the desk, the one Akira was hiding behind.

"Time's up. We are out of here whether you like it or not." Hargreave ordered, wincing slightly as his shields discharged their immense heat into his skin. Akira jumped up from behind the desk, shotgun in hand.

"At this range you won't be able to drop my shields before I killed you even if you shot first." Hargreave reminded the gang leader. Akira seemed to consider this for a moment, then placed the barrel of the eezo shotgun against his jaw.

"I'll relive that day over and over again then." Akira said. Hargreave shook his head as he fired. The hypersonic shards of metal tore through the leather jacket with ease, and almost removed Akira's right arm entirely. He screamed a blood-curdling cry as he dropped the gun.

 _Looks I'm on a time limit then. Find some Medi-Gel before Akira dies of blood loss._

"Up you get." The old soldier commanded, gripping Akira by his left arm and dragging up to his feet.

He threw Akira just to the right of the doorway, then poked the door open and glanced through. A veritable swarm of red leather wearing gang members had their guns trained on the door, waiting for him to pass through the threshold. Hargreave glanced back tot he enormous window that dominated the room.

"Hold your breath." Hargreave ordered as he made his way to the window, dragging Akira along with him. He fired three times into the window, and it cracked apart. The air was thin up here, and rushed out of the room to compensate for the pressure differential. As quickly as he could Hargreave tied his twenty metres of cord around a solid pillar, then picked up the skeletal Akira and jumped out of the window. He started to rappel down the building, feeling the wind rush through his hair, Akira screaming as they went. They were three kilometres from ground level, though in truth because of one of the many crisscrossing highways in the city if they fell it'd only be a one and a half kilometre drop to their deaths.

He rappelled as far down as he could, about 17 metres, before the chord pulled tight.

He was just in front of a window a few floors down. With one hand around the screaming and dying Akira, he raised his other hand with the shotgun in hand and opened fire into the window. After three rounds it smashed apart. Hargreave pushed off the building, then as he began to fall back towards the smashed window he elbow the chord's spool, unclipping the carbon nanotube from the cable and free falling towards the window. Akira screamed, but they managed to get inside. A broken shard of glass cut open Hargreave's arm from forearm to just above the elbow, and he dropped his shotgun into the distant streets below.

"Fuck." Hargreave grumbled. The people inside the apartment screamed as the air rushed past him out of the window, and he stumbled whilst dragging Akira over to a first aid station next to the kitchen. He was about to inject Akira with some coagulant to seal up with wound when the apartment's owner returned from his bedroom. Holding an SMG in his hand.

Hargreave pushed Akira over the kitchen counter before running towards the hail of gunfire. His shields broke long before he reached the apartment's owner, and round after round impacted against his Non-newtonian armour. Even that just broke before he reached the man, and a few small but hyper accelerated rounds pierced his body. Hargreave stumbled into the man as he began to bleed through his body armour. The two of them wrestled for the gun, but Hargreave was twice injured, and soon enough the apartment owner over powered him. He was atop him, both of them lying on the floor. The SMG was in the owner's hand, but Hargreave fought with all his might to keep the barrel of the gun aimed squarely away from his head.

Hargreave let go of the gun with one hand and shot forth the nanotube cable. It launched itself out of the window and fell out. The man managed to aim the SMG at his head. Just before he could gloat Hargreave felt himself being pulled towards the edge of the window. With the man atopnhim they flew out as the spool span up to drag him towards the hook. Clearly it had magnetised or gripped onto something, whether it could take his weight was another matter.

The Old soldier and his near killer fell out of the window, and for a moment Hargreave felt weightless. The gun fell from his killers hand as he screamed. He tried to hold onto Hargreave but a simple kick remove him from a death grip. He fell. And fell. And Fell. Screaming the entire way as he fell towards the earth. Hargreave meanwhile was attached to the building, a full forty metres from the smashed window.

The wind kicked and screamed at him as slowly his was pulled towards the hook, magnetised to the building. He reached the hook and held onto the building for dear life, hunting for anywhere he could place his hands and feet. The outside of the building was utterly smooth, and there were very few handholds. But eventually he scrambled for a grip against a window sill a few feet above him. He held on desperately with both hands as the wind battered against him. Threatening to throw him to the concrete and steel below.

When after a minute the wind abated a little Hargreave gripped the hook of his cable and threw it upwards. It magnetically secured itself to a part of the building about ten metres up. He allowed the spool to spin up and drag him towards where the hook landed, then gripped onto the building again with one hand. He felt his grip weakening as his blood dripped through the holes in his armour and down the side of the arcology, painting the steel red.

Again he grabbed the hook with a single hand, dropped it a little and griped the carbon nanotube cable. Spinning it around as he aimed for the single smashed window he threw it. With mostly luck it entered the apartment and gripped onto something, and Hargreave allowed himself to be dragged up back onto secure land. He winced as the glass shards tore through his armour as he passed the window, before unclipping the hook and standing up. Dragging his body he made his way over to the kitchen and the first aid kit. But as he leaned over the counter he saw blood stains leading out of the apartment, and the door open. Hargreave gritted his teeth, ignore the screaming in his body and followed the dripping blood out of the door, stumbling against the walls as he followed Akira's steps.

No matter how humbled Hargreave was from the bullet wounds and glass shards in his gut Akira was worst, holding the bloody mess that had been his right arm. Hargreave saw him heading towards the centre of the building, the atrium and the long drop inside. As Hargreave limped rapidly towards him Akira screamed for help and he heard the sounds of rushing footprints. The old soldier gritted his teeth, punched his torn open chest and ran towards Akira as he backed against the bannister of the central atrium. Old soldier and gang leader fell over the side just as a hail of gunfire followed after him. Akira screamed as they fell. Unlike outside this was a solid three kilometre drop, but Hargreave had to find a way to stop before he reached terminal velocity, else he'd be torn apart by his rappelling equipment.

Hargreave threw the hook as soon as he fell over the side, and though it missed and failed to connect with the floor directly beneath where they had fallen over the side it had gripped onto the floor beneath that. The two of them were suddenly stopped from the free fall and dragged into the side of the building, smashing against the steel as their drop was suddenly halted. Hargreave screamed out in pain, his old bones begging for relief. Rather than wait for the spool to carry him up he gripped Akira with one hand and released his cable. He fell for a few short metres before grabbing onto the bannister below. Whether he liked or not, if Akira wanted to live he had to hold onto Hargreave, and he did so, apparently no longer so sure of his afterlife.

Now with his other hand free Hargreave climbed over the bannister. As he once again returned to solid ground he fell to the floor. His blood pooling beneath him.

Akira tried to stand on his own and run, but he was so pale as to be almost see through, and fell a few feet away from Hargreave. Hargreave sighed and gingerly got to his feet before dragging Akira with him. He shoulder barged a door open and fell inside.

The apartment smelt of mould and death. Particles of dust and mould clung to the very air, a visible haze of green and brown. Hargreave's olfactory senses mercifully shut down after only a second but he knew that to stay too long in this room would likely kill him, regardless of the bullet holes in his body. Hargreave dragged Akira inside and closed the door behind him, then stumbled over towards the kitchen. As he did so he saw into the bedroom.

On the bed was a corpse. No. Corpses didn't have IV drips plugged into them. Didn't twitch every few seconds, have their eyes open but rolled back into their own skull. Covered in... Excretions.

A grey addict. Rich enough to afford to spend all his time reliving his past, or perhaps other people's pasts. He had been there so long he had began to merge with the bed, whatever wasn't covered in a fine mould. If Hargreave's sense of smell hadn't shut off for his own safety he knew the smell might well have knocked him out entirely. But the worst thing was the smile. Filled with blackened teeth, his lips peeled back as if they were stuck that way, the sound of his breathing moving between the gaps of his rotten teeth.

Hargreave desperately tore his eyes from the sight and searched for some medigel. Thankfully there was enough to stop both of them from bleeding out. First priority was Akira, then him.

He returned to the almost dead body of Akira and leaned down, applying the medical nanites directly to the open wound. They did their thing, rapidly sealing up the blood vessels, arteries and capillaries. Once some colour returned to Akira's skin as the medical nanites likely worked to try and replace the enormous amount of blood the man had lost Hargreave winced as he applied the rest of the medigel to his own skin. It closed the wounds, and Hargreave breathed out with relief as his lungs began to work better without holes in them.

He wished he hadn't, since he breathed in the foul air.

Guessing the guards were looking for him but hadn't found him yet he opened his Omni-Tool and tried to contact Pressly.

"Tell me you've found something that can fly." Hargreave begged, coughing as he continued to breath in the foul air.

"No. I'm waiting at the base of the tower. A lot of guards just rushed inside. Your handy work?" Pressly asked. Hargreave nodded as he leaned against the outside door, listening perhaps to any footfall.

"Stay there. I may be a few minutes." Hargreave ordered.

"Don't die again." Pressly ordered, then he cut the feed.

When enough colour returned to Akira and when Hargreave felt he could stand without collapsing Hargreave grabbed the gang leader and left the apartment. He held up the one armed felon and dragged him as he stood, walking around the atrium. He needed an elevator. It'd take nearly an hour to walk down the steps inside this building.

"HALT!" Someone shouted behind him, Hargreave turned his head to look at a faceless guard, aiming his gun squarely at him. It was a shotgun though, and if he fired it'd merely impact against his shields, but at this range it could well kill Akira.

Hargreave turned, holding Akira in front of him as he stepped back towards the bannister of the atrium.

"Hand him over!" The guard shouted as about ten of his friends walked down the steps behind him to also entrap him.

"You fire he's dead, and I'm simply made angry." Hargreave warned.

They hesitated as Hargreave walked closer and closer towards the edge. With one arm still wrapped around Akira he slammed the hook of his rappelling cable into the bannister. It magnetised and gripped the steel. They raised their guns and fired a warning shot over his shoulder.

"Don't!" The same ganger shouted. "Hand him over!"

Hargreave leaned back, Akria still in his grip, and fell over the edge again. He fell until the cable extended its maximum length. It tightened and nearly winded him before he hanged there for a few seconds. Then, breathing deeply, Hargreave unclipped the hook before they could. Akira screamed as they free fell.

The cable retracted into his spool, but before he accelerated to terminal velocity Hargreave fired it from it's spool. It slammed into a bannister on the other side of the atrium and they were swung towards the opposite side of where they had thrown themselves. Rather than smashed into the side at ludicrous speeds thanks to the cable Hargreave unclipped it again and flew , narrowly missing hitting the bannister of one of the floors and instead flying over it, landing and skidding across the floor till they hit a far wall.

He had definitely broken a rib doing that, and perhaps cracked a vertebrate, but still he gingerly stood up, wincing as he gripped his lower back. His implants got to work correcting his spine painfully and injecting what little CN-90-1 he had left in an implanted organ, numbing the pain.

Hargreave dragged the still screaming Akira over to an Elevator and gripped his neck and squeezed till he activated it.

They stepped inside.

"Pressly. Come in." Hargreave said as his Omni-Tool light up. "What's the situation?"

"It's not good down here. A fucking army of Akira's men just rolled up down here. Ground level is too hot for you to possibly survive getting out." Pressly warned.

"Then I'm taking my bike. We'll meet at the rendezvous point. If you can distract them, but don't risk your life." Hargreave said after a few moments as he considered his options, before forcing Akira to punch in for the half way floor where his bike was parked.

"I'll try. I've called for backup, told them Akira's men are about to slaughter the occupants of this place." Said Pressly.

"Command doesn't give a shit about the kind of people that live in the Skagos arcology. But if they do turn up they may by me some time." Hargreave admitted. The elevator rapidly sped past a full kilometre and a half of floors before the doors finally opened. Hargreave pushed Akira and himself to the side as the men inside the parking lot opened fire on the elevator immediately. It seemed killing him was more important than keeping their boss safe.

Hargreave waited as the elevator was torn apart by gunfire, sparks and glass flying through the air as Eezo accelerated shards of metal tore the small room apart. The moment there was a lull in the gunfire Hargreave rushed forth, dragging Akira with him. They ducked behind a car because as soon as their guns cool-downed they opened fire again. The massive 4x4 they were hiding behind screamed and cried out as it collapsed. Glass and fire and molten metal flew into the air, and Hargreave held his hands over his head as his shields began to crack beneath the gunfire. He counted the seconds till their guns stopped firing.

They could fire continuously for twenty seconds before they needed to wait for their guns to cool-down.

Hargreave dragged Akira over towards a bannister and dropped over it again. Used Akira's body to soften his impact then dragged him towards his red bike. He counted the seconds till the gangers fired again. Four seconds to cool down. Hargreave put on his helmet, rapidly disengaged all safeties on his bike and strapped Akira to the bike using his rappelling chord before hopping on. As he ignited the bike the gangers opened fire form their raised position again, but Hargreave's shield took it and he sped off into the night.

The bike screamed as Hargreave put it through its paces, rapidly changing gears as fast as his augmented body allowed. A jeep tried to reverse up and block the exit, so Hargreave turned and sped off back up the parking lot, towards the men that he previously been firing at him.

A crowbar lay on the ground and Hargreave slowed down enough to pick it up without stopping his bike. The gunmen stepped in front of him and opened fire, but he didn't change course, instead barrelling towards them. With the crowbar in hand Hargreave leaned to the right, low enough to almost taste the asphalt. He swiped at one of the gunsman's legs, crippling him as he sped past, too fast for their barrage of fire to destroy him or the bike. Another exit was up ahead, and without anything to block his way Hargreave barrelled through the barrier, smashing the wood and speeding off onto the highway. He could turn right and go down the ramp, but that would bring him closer to the army of lights below that was surely the rest of Akira's gang, or he could go left and go further up the ramp towards the superhighway. It took him just a second to decide right was absolute death and left was at least a chance of life, so turned left and carried up the highway. He dodged and weaved through the automatically driven traffic, keeping his Crowbar in hand even as he changed gears.

He glanced at his bikes readout and read that the bike had taken a bit of damage, but she was still accelerating well. He hoped the bike would last him till he got to the warehouse outside of the city where he and Pressly were to meet and interrogate Akira.

Hargreave moved through the traffic, dodging around automatic cars, great lorries of twenty wheels, bikes going hundreds of kilometres an hour. It all screamed inside his helmet. Typically to moved though the traffic he'd need to activate the automatic driving on the bike, but he didn't dare in case it stopped for whatever reason, instead praying to himself and using his decades of combat training to dodge oncoming traffic.

Ahead the road seemed to clear for as far as he could see as the road even up and the highway widened to eight lanes. Perhaps he had caught a break.

And then he saw why.

An armada of bikes, in the same red as their jackets, as well as two massive cars blocked his path. He could hear behind him that the army that had blockaded the foot of the Skagos arcology where also heading towards him, and there were far more behind him than ahead of him. Hargreave skidded to a stop and considered his options.

 _I don't have any. Just go ahead and try not to die._

Hargreave lowered the crowbar in his right hand, smacked his bike with it twice then revved the engine. He charged towards the yellow lights ahead of him, and they rushed towards him return. They weaved between each other, perhaps thinking he had a gun and that he might try and shoot at the cars.

He roared within his helmet. The first bike rushed towards him, baseball bat in hand. Hargreave swung his crowbar with all his might, parrying the man's swing. He almost lost control of the bike beneath him, almost skidding in the asphalt but collecting himself and barrelling ahead. The next one was rushing towards him as the one behind him skidded to a stop and tried to swing around again. To glance backwards was to die, as an entire army of cars and bikes roared.

This one had swung too soon, confused by Hargreave slowing his bike ever so slightly, and Hargreave cracked his chest open with a crowbar going 200km an hour. The rider flew backwards off his bike, but the vehicle carried on, before smashing into the bike rushing behind him. This time Hargreave did chance a glance back, seeing Akira squeeze his eyes close, seeing the rush of yellow, white and blue lights behind him. He immediately turned around again.

The next biker to chance him lifted what Hargreave immediately recognised was an SMG, and Hargreave skidded and weaved to dodge the gun fire. He past the SMG wielding biker by a dozen feet on his left and carried on. To glance back was to die. To glance back was to die.

The next rider was followed closely by two more. The one front and centre didn't have crowbar, a baseball bat or anything to swing. Instead he held a long piece of rebar several metres long like a lance. If Hargreave was pierced on the end of it it'd likely kill them both as the bike would become uncontrollable and the rider would likely be thrown off the bike from the force, but if the rider knew this he certainly didn't show he cared, laughing and screaming without a helmet.

Hargreave charged ahead, hoping the gun wielding biker behind him wouldn't open fire on both his boss and the rider in front of him.

At the last second Hargreave leaned to his left, dragging Akira down to the left with his free hand too. The bike swerved left and the lance flew over them as the two bikes narrowly missed colliding. Hargreave immediately pulled himself and his captive upwards as the nearly fell over and swung again with his crowbar at the bike behind the lancer. The crowbar embedded itself in the man's chest and Hargreave didn't risk holding on too tight less he was brought with it.

Now all that was ahead of him were two cars. Great heavy thing that would certainly kill him.

Heavy things with passengers as it seemed, as out of both cars the passenger side windows opened and gunmen leaned out, armed with assault rifles. Hargreave ducked and held his body as low to the bike as possible, covering the bike with his personal shield as round after round impacted with the eezo field.

Hargreave sped up the bike as fast as he could, reaching three hundred kilometres an hour. He couldn't see ahead of him as his head was down, so he desperately hoped the cars hadn't moved to smash into him.

They hadn't, and Hargreave sped between he two of them. The way ahead was clear. He'd need only run from the army behind him. The cars skidded to turn around as quickly as they could, and in doing so a bunch of bikes smashed into them, going too fast to stop. Pandemonium played out behind him as Hargreave put the injured and dying bike to its limits, speeding off beneath the Neon lit sky.


	23. Chapter 22

**_Alcubierre: NEO-TOKYO_**  
 ** _Chapter 11: The Truth. To a certain extent._**

He winced as the auto-doc they had wheeled here did it's work, sealing up the bullet wounds in his chest and sewing up his injured arm properly. He had had to wait until it had finished with Akira. Amputating the man's arm to save his life. It made tying him to the chair a little difficult, but they managed.

His gang was spread across the city trying to find him. Probably to kill him. Because there was no way all that happened inside the arcology and on the highway was to capture Akira alive. Someone within his gang wanted him very fucking dead, perhaps to keep quiet.

But they were well hidden in a warehouse ten miles from the city limits, to the north of the region. About seventy miles from the Skagos arcology itself.

As soon as the auto-doc had finished its work Hargreave stood up and made his way over to Akira. He heard the pitter patter of rain falling on the steel roof above them.

"Talk Akira. What happened to Jennifer Welles." Hargreave commanded. Pressly stepped away from the one armed prisoner, gingerly holding jumper cables in hand. Pressly wasn't cold bloodied enough for torture, always playing the good cop to Hargreave's absolute bastard cop in interrogations, but there was no way Akira was going to crack from being offered a bottle of water or the like.

Akira spat into Hargreave's face. He sighed, sick of this bollocks, and slammed his fist into Akira's jaw. Even through his knuckles he felt a few teeth loosen.

"Talk. Or I'll remove your ability to do so, carve open your skull and just read your greybox." Hargreave threatened. In truth, this was unlikely. Reading the entire contents of a man's memory to find even a sliver of what he was looking for was a risky move. Many who had done so suffered from dissociative personality disorder soon after, unsure of who they were, trapped by memories of their own or others. Remembering their own death at their own hands. Machines were no help either. Only a sapient being could decipher the rush of sensory data, emotions and context of a human's memory.

"Jennifer. This is what all this was about?" Akira asked incredulously, wobbling the stump that had once been his right arm. "You've almost died for a single little girl? There are billions of them on Earth. What does one life matter."

"Talk!" Hargreave shouted.

"I am fucking talking!" The weaboo screamed. "She's going to die anyway! We all are!"

"The Reapers?" Asked Hargreave, still unused to the idea that people knew about them.

"Obviously. They're going to wipe out all life within a century anyway." Akira screamed.

"If you truly had accepted death then you would've gone through with killing yourself in that tower." Hargreave pointed out. "The moment you lost that arm you tried to survive. You were afraid for the very first time. That maybe this is it and there is nothing to come."

"Of course there is nothing to come. You think any of this matters? That girl, all the girls, none of it fucking matters. There will be nothing left after I'm gone."

Hargreave paused.

"All of the girls?" Hargreave asked slowly.

Pressly turned to the two of them, also intrigued by the man's words.

"You don't know?" Asked Akira incredulously, before coughing out a few teeth. "You mean to tell me you actually stormed an Arcology for a single girl? Who the fuck are you?"

"Talk." Asked Hargreave. He wanted to point a gun at the man's head, but doing so wouldn't achieve anything. It was obvious that they needed him alive, so threatening him with death would do nothing.

"No way man. Whatever you can do to me is nothing compared to what EXALT will do." He said.

 _He mentioned it, same as Daron. Just what the fuck is EXALT._

"You're probably right. However, unlike them I can offer you a quick death if you'd prefer." Hargreave offered. "They might be... Less inclined to do so if they even think you had spoken to me."

Pressly turned to Hargreave, confused about who he was talking about. He knew even less than Hargreave did about EXALT after all.

"No way man. They don't keep you alive to torture you. It's what they do to everyone else I'm scared of. They can fucking wipe you from collective memory man. Remove any trace you ever existed. Evne from peoples minds. You'd have no memory of who've they've killed." Akira said as he shook his head.

"Bollocks." Hargreave replied.

"It's true. They can interfere with your Greybox syncing via the extranet. Remove little bits of memory. They have to know what they are looking for, but they can. I don't fear death. But being forgotten before the fucking reapers come in and destroy everything? No way man." Akira said, shaking his head desperately as if to shake the thought from his mind.

"Fuck off. You'll be dead, what does it matter? That being remembered is true immortality rubbish is just what people used to tell themselves when they lived for a maximum of a hundred years." Hargreave said pessimistically.

"... I don't want to be forgotten." Akira whispered. He seemed desperate. Terrified that he would never be remembered.

"You will be. We all will unless we stop the Reapers." Hargreave said.

"Stop the Reapers? The fuck are you talking about? One of them nearly destroyed two fleets back at the end of the Keplerian war, and that one was badly damaged. You think Operation: Return to Sender was to destroy a Keplerian Dreadnought? The Keplerians were a spent force by then. Return to Sender was destroyed because a single, badly damaged Reaper fucking took over every member of that op." Akira retorted.

Hargreave was struck, and Pressly turned to him, wondering if he was as interested that this simple gang banger knew about the truth of Return to Sender as he was.

"You know about Return to Sender." Asked Hargreave.

"Yeah man. EXALT told me about it. About how every single person but Captain Hargreave were fucking killed when the Reaper was finally destroyed. About how they were all driven mad, same as the Keplerians." Akira said, trying to shrug with his missing arm.

"So... You know about Captain Hargreave?" Hargreave asked.

"A little. My handler in EXALT told me that he was in a coma somewhere on Epsilon Eridani. I don't fucking know why. Had nothing to do with what I was asked to do." Akira replied.

"All right. I'm Arthur Hargreave." Hargreave said, kneeling down to stare Akira right in the eyes.

"Bullshit. Hargreave's fucking comatose." Akira replied. Hargreave's black hair dye had began to wash out in the rain, and streaks of grey played atop his head.

"Believe me. I was there aboard the Midnight City. I commanded the Auto-surgeon to remove the reaper implant and nearly killed myself doing so. I killed Joshua Grahm and countless others. I resisted Azmorethran." Hargreave explained bluntly.

"Horse shit. Prove it." Akira asked.

"Why do you think my 'name' is Joshua Grahm." Hargreave asked, raising a single eyebrow.

"That's... just a coincidence." Akira said slowly.

"I have a fucking scar in the same place." Hargreave pointed out, running a hand down the right side of his face.

"So? Lots of people have facial scars." Akira said.

Hargreave sighed, and glared directly at Akira. His Cerulean eyes boring into his skull.

"I destroyed Cittagaze. I condemned an entire planet to death because my superiors told me to. I destroyed Santiago by dragging a Keplerian fleet there. I was born in the year 2082 on Epsilon Eridani. My birth name is Arthur James Hargreave. I reached Captain rank with the EENS whilst serving in SOIG, the Special Observations and Interference Group. I destroyed the colony of Carcosa. I am the fucking Yellow King. I died twice and was reborn twice!" Hargreave began to shout. "I am fucking Hargreave. I have destroyed worlds. I have condemned over a billion souls to death by starting the Keplerian war. I have seen the endless cycle of birth and death this entire galaxy is set upon and I fucking turned away from it."

Akira tried to lean back in his chair as Hargreave continued to rant.

"I have watched worlds die. I have the blood of billions on my hands. I have directly, personally killed thousands with my hands." Hargreave said. "I have kill count that is greater than most civilisations."

"You..." Akira mumbled.

"And despite all that... A want to know just where Jennifer Welles is. Her, and whoever else have been taken or killed by your orders. I want to try and save her life if I can, or avenge her if I cannot. Neither you, your gang, EXALT or even the fucking Reapers can stop me." Hargreave growled. "I have died twice and been born three times. Twice in a hospital bed, once screaming in the void. Tell me what happened to Jennifer Welles. Tell me."

For a few moments the room was dead silent. Only the sound of Hargreave breath in the air breaking the void.

"EXALT... Want Children." Akira admitted. "Biotic children. The more powerful the better. Across every world, every human settlement people like me kill their parents and capture them to send them off to gods know where. Jennifer was one such child."

"Why?" Asked Hargreave.

"They don't tell us. If I had to guess, to create super soldiers or something. Jennifer is or was one of the most naturally powerful biotics on Earth. EXALT were desperate for her capture, which meant my men were sloppy enough to get caught in our desperation to capture her." Akira explained.

"Why were you so desperate?" Hargreave asked. "Specifically."

"The Welles had escaped from EXALT before. They changed their name. We knew if they got wind we found them they'd disappear again." Akira replied.

"All this over her being a biotic?" Asked Hargreave.

"She wasn't the first. In the last decade we must've kidnapped hundreds of children and sent them off on ships to... Somewhere." Akira replied.

"So... You've been kidnapping four year old girls to fucking sell? Tell me why I shouldn't kill you..." Hargreave began.

"Four? You're kidding right? Jennifer was eight at least, if not older. That four year old shit was them trying to hide her from EXALT. I've no idea how they managed it either. I think they may have forced their daughter to take growth suppressing drugs. Maybe even injected here with the telomere nanites to slow her aging down."

"No one is dumb enough to inject the Telomeres into a child." Said Pressly.

"Desperate times. I don't know. I just bagged her and sent her off." Akira admitted.

"So... she's gone." Hargreave said bluntly.

"Well beyond even you Hargreave. You won't find her. Believe me. I work for them and even I don't know where they send the kids. Maybe they fucking use them to power the golden throne, I don't know." Akira said, shrugging his one shoulder. "You shouldn't be too surprised. The NTPD have been working with us the whole time."

"What." Hargreave asked bluntly.

"Sure. Every time we kidnap a kid the police look the other way. Report made in error, dead clones found, gone to live with their birth parents, whatever it took. Hell, if my gang members hadn't killed Mr and Mrs Welles you'd be damn sure that you guys wouldn't have ever found out about the missing kid. Or you wouldn't have even been allowed to investigate." Said Akira.

"You're lying!" Pressly shouted. Ever the optimist.

"This is a world where nothing gets solved. Every missing child, every murder, everything is covered up. Dozens of kidnappings placed on one person rather than the paedophile ring responsible, evidence made to fit the crime. Hell, we make a lot of money cloning children to sell as sex slaves to the rich and powerful. People have no idea a nearly permanent child version of themselves is tied up in the basement of some manner. No one is going to investigate it. No one cares." Akira ranted.

"You're only allowed to see the surface crimes. This world runs on the blood that I and millions like me spill. This city is built on blood. The Reapers are a fucking mercy compared to our race continuing. If we keep going we are only going to get worse after all. Billions are enslaved to banks so that they can live for a thousand years and still never pay off their loans. People would rather live inside their memories rather than wake up into this dying world. And it isn't just Earth. From Epsilon Eridani to Kowloon to Highgarden to Byzantine this entire galaxy is decaying. We deserve to go extinct for the things we've done. It doesn't matter if I aid along our decay or not, because there are over a trillion souls to take my place if I don't." Akira continued to rant.

"Say what you will about the Reapers, why on earth they want to wipe us all out. At least they just want to kill us. We? We want to do whatever sick depraved shit we want. And as time goes on, as the divide between rich and poor grows, as we live for longer and longer and longer we care less. If it weren't for the Reapers offering us an inevitable end very soon we'd sink so low into moral decay you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between reality and hell. Only knowledge that whatever happens we are going to go extinct prevents the ultra rich from, say, farming us all and devouring the poor for the sick thrill of it. There is nothing to come after death, and even if we keep going eventually the matter that makes us is going to break down. There is no divine punishment, or even really punishment at all. Without the Reapers things would only get worse" Akira ranted.

"Shut the fuck up." Pressly retorted. Hargreave turned to his partner, shocked.

"Yes. Corruption is at every level of government, and the rich can get away with some truly horrifying things. Yes, immortality has left us without direction. Yes, the Reapers are coming to wipe us out, maybe making all of humanities' existence utterly pointless. But we decide that. If we all decide to be better we can be better. If we all decide to fight we can fight. There is a point in continuing. For the first time in human history we will live long enough to guide not only our children, and our grandchildren, but perhaps guide our relatives so long down the line that there is almost no genes we share in common with them. The young can teach the old and the old can teach the young. We have a chance to combine the wisdom of age and the virility of youth in a single person. You decry those that live within their memories? Those that repeat a perfect day? First they have to have one. A perfect day. And that doesn't come from merely a single day. It doesn't take a week to set up. It takes a lifetime. Perhaps more." Pressly ranted.

"Even if there are a trillion humans in the galaxy each one is a unique person. Each one has needs, and drives, and searches for a purpose. It is the fact that people believe the Reapers are coming, removing any proof of either our sins or our accomplishments that drives them to such sickening acts. But we can fight them. We can be remembered. We can win. I have seen a man come back from the dead before my very own eyes. We can either roll over for the Reapers and deserve to be made extinct or we can fight and deserve to be remembered. We cannot do both." Pressly shouted.

"We have to fight. We have to. In our blood is the blood of all those before us that fought for their survival. Those that gave up never passed on their cowardice to any children. We are a race of those too stubborn to die, and to give up even in front of the Reapers is to spit in our ancestors faces. You believe the world is devoid of purpose, and that we should be like you? Support those that revel in this and commit atrocities because they believe there is no consequence to doing so?" Pressly spat. "I'll give you a purpose. Fight. Fight to improve ourselves. Improve the human race. Be more than our base wants and needs and survive to pass on this purpose to the next generation, and the generation after that. Even if the universe will someday end, even if there will be nothing after us, even if there is nothing after we die we still need to create a world worthy of living in. This may be the one chance we have to do something, anything with our time. Our existence. I will not spend it cowering before the shadow of the Reapers, or of the end of the universe, or of a lack of divine punishment or rewards. I will not be scared of the dark."

Pressly turned to Hargreave, who was still stunned by this speech his partner was spewing.

"Hargreave. We are wasting our time here. This filth cannot be removed by simply being a cop. You cannot stop the Reapers and force people to accept they will be judged for what they do by hiding here in Tokyo. We have to go out there. Into the wide universe. We have to do what the governments and people are too afraid to do. We have to gather the galaxy and prepare them to fight. We cannot do that here." Pressly ordered.

Hargreave paused. He knew he was right. This city, this place was a mere distraction. He now knew about EXALT. At least a little. He was lying to himself by staying here. He had a purpose. He had to stop the Reapers.

"Agreed." Hargreave said.

"Where the fuck are you two going!" Akira shouted, still tied to the chair.

"To quit." Said Pressly. "Someone will find you eventually. Failing that... Well, you deserve this."

Akira continued to rant and scream as Hargreave and Pressly stepped into the rain.

"EXALT will be trying to find us." Pressly said after a few moments.

"They don't care." Hargreave replied. "We are the only ones that do. But we will make them care."

 _909090 ahah! Fuck the formatting909090  
_ The two of them stood in Hargreave's apartment. They had just been to Pressly's, packing his bags as quickly as he could, and now it was Hargreave's turn.

Pressly finished up his Omni-call.

"I broke up with her. She doesn't deserve to be entangled in all this mess." Pressly admitted. "Chief Hashin is going to be fucking pissed we didn't hand him a two week notice either."

"You..." Hargreave owed Pressly more than he could say, which is why he finished his sentence. "Pressly. You have a life here. You don't have to follow me."

"No Hargreave. If I don't follow you none of us will have lives. You alone cannot stop the Reapers. We need each other. I've known that ever since I watched you gasp for air beneath Carcosa. You'll need as much help as you can to stop what is coming." Pressly reminded him, gripping his arm.

"I... Thank you." Hargreave admitted after a moment. He continued to pack his bag. "Do we have an actual plan?"

"You're a fucking killing machine. We've got lots of money in the bank thanks to Mr Harper all those years ago. We can find mercenary work in the Terminus away from EXALT till we've gather enough capital to go solo and from there we find out as much as we can. Scour the galaxy for the truth. Then we report everything we can to the councils. Both the Citadel and Kruger." Pressly said resolutely.

"It's going to be difficult. Just leaving this all behind." Hargreave pointed out.

"Leaving what behind? We've been simply going through the motions here, content to ignore what we know. I almost gave up all of this and wanted to settle down. No more. Never again." Said Pressly. "We know the Dark stars are looming over the galaxy. We know the governments of the galaxy are doing nothing to stop them. No one else will step up to the plate. And besides. If we stay here either Akira's gang will kill us or EXALT will. We owe it to Jennifer, and the thousands like her. We owe it to the human race, and every race, to fight even when no one else will."

Hargreave grinned.

"You know. You're pretty good at those cowboy speeches." Hargreave smirked.

"I know." Pressly said with a tired nod.

"After all we suffered. Me, with my wife and Carcosa. You with... Cittagaze, the implant, the Midnight city, the coma, Carcosa... To give up would be to die." Said Pressly. "You were brought back to this place, you woke up, for a purpose. A purpose neither of us can fog off to someone else."

"Then let's go out there." Said Hargreave. "And save the fucking galaxy."

The two men picked up their bags, turned up their hoods and made their way out of the arcology. Out of the city. Out of the atmosphere and solar system.

* * *

 __ _ **2184**_

They had quit the NTPD seven years ago. Flew off away from the toxic atmosphere of human space. Out into the great beyond. Where aliens lived, where secrets lay buried beneath the surface of planets. To the Terminus, where the strongest ruled. It had been hard at first, juggling their work for various mercenaries companies with desperately trying to gather people for their cause. Secretly, Hargreave had reached out for his still living family. A freighter, a 200 metre long ship armed with mediocre shielding, a decent Alcubierre drive and a few piddly turrets came in response. They had travelled the stars, hiring people as they went. Prothean ruins. Deactivated Mass Relays. Distant stars. Any information they could find on the reapers.

But this didn't pay the bills. Mercenary work did. Carving apart Terminus empires at the behest of companies. Raiding pirate bases. Mapping distant star systems. Is was as if he was back working for Trailblazer.

No. This time he had purpose. His entire crew was behind him. Find as much as they could about the Reapers. Spread this information. Put down Reaper cult and colonies without mercy.

But finally, in the winter of the Year 2184, a full sixty years since Hargreave entered a coma, since the galaxy was made aware of the Dark Stars, a job offer came through from a mysterious benefactor.

Human colonies in the Terminus were disappearing. One day they were trading with the neighbours, raiding their neighbours, whatever. Then the next they were utter ghost towns. Devoid of any life. Silent mausoleums to their species. These were no slaver raids, no pirate attacks. Pirates and Slavers could never hope to pick a colony clean of life so thoroughly. Slavers and Pirates didn't leave guns and ships and riches were they stood. And somehow, Captain 'Joshua Grahm', Commanding officer of the PXS Rust and Coal, knew that there were darker things behind these attacks. And Others were taking interest as well.

With the Batarians and Turians threatening war in the Attican Traverse, with humanity circling the drain ever closer to extinction, with EXALT waiting and watching in the shadows. With the AFS and SolP at each other throats. With the Cult of the Sovereign One gaining more and more territory in the Terminus. With Dark stars waiting beyond the galaxies edge, biding their time for the feast yet to begin, Hargreave knew somehow that these were the closing days of the cycle. That the death bell was beginning to ring out across the galaxy. That in the back of his mind, he heard the familiar scratching and snarling of the Reapers.

Hargreave gave the order. And the Alcubierre drive a few decks below span into life.

* * *

See you all  
Next time, on Alcubierre: COLLECTOR

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _Cop out ending I know. But I regret writing this arc.  
I know many of you are asking for Shepherds story to continue, that I've only dropped the barest of hints for what the fuck is going on in the wider galaxy. That the aliens of Mass Effect have played almost no role in this story apparently set in the Mass Effect universe. But things will change with the sequel. The wider galaxy will be explored, outside of the approaching Reapers. All these little nuggets are going to be explored._

 _If the First arc was about pride and fall, if the Carcosa arc is about depression and the Tokyo arc is about corruption and decay then the next arc is about survival. About daring to fight._

 _The last chapter on this story will be a Q/A. So, any questions about the setting will be answered._  
 _Anything._

 _ **Appendices: The Rust and Coal  
**_ _  
Ship registry PXS 8928191_

 _A privately owned 'Syracuse' class freighter modified for limited space combat. Built by Hargreave aerospace, owned by Captain Joshua Grahm of the Mercenary group 'The Trailblazers'._

 _SPECS:_

 _130 metres long, 80 metres wide. Armed with nine eezo acceleration turrets and fourteen Laser PDF's. Thermal resistant nanite armour and Class four shields (equivalent of small military corvette). Contains two Alcubierre drives. Artificial gravity as standard. Multiple VI's for day to day work._

 _Registered crew:_

 _Captain: Joshua Grahm._  
 _XO: Charles Pressly._  
 _Chief tactical Officer: Andrente Blut_  
 _Head of engineering: Gabriella Daniels_  
 _Pilot: Sorin Actus_

 _Registered two mantis gunships. Current registered crew total is forty seven individuals. Most of these are registered mercenaries of 'The Trailblazers'. Registered for Citadel space, Terminus Space, Orion arm and limited registration for the Attican traverse._

 _Permanent docks reserved at: Omega (Dock 714), Citadel (Tayseri dock 419) and Illium (Nos Astra dock b-98)_


End file.
